Karma Chronicles I: The Spell
by Ringbearingreasergal
Summary: When little Marlene begins to dabble with a spell book and Materia, she learns that no absolute should be taken for granted. MarlenexKadaj, take it how you want to. Complete!
1. Preface

**BEFORE YOU BEGIN: Hey everyone, ring here. I just wanted to set a few things clear before you embark into the epic journey I have written out for your Fanfiction entertainment.**

**One: Screw everything you know about the Final Fantasy Seven map. It's completely irrelevant. The characters and immediate setting are not AU, but it turns that way—not in this particular story, but in the ones to come**

**Two: These **_**chronicles**_** are each based off of a song from the album 'Karma' by the band Kamelot****. This opening story was pretty much completely based off of the song 'The Spell'. **

**Three: I would **_**really**_** appreciate it if you took a minute or two to review. In all honesty, it would make my day!**

**Four: I understand that this story might move a little slowly, I apologize and I hope it's not boring. Tell me if it is.**

**XxXxXx**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any Final Fantasy 7 Characters and/or Advent Children, in which they belong to Square Enix. I do own my own plot and a couple of the cities mentioned in this story. **

The Karma Chronicles: I--The Spell

Preface

Three months ago, Midgar would've been a complete and utter mess. Buildings would be in shambles, the terrain would've been bright with orange flames, debris would've been scattered aimlessly throughout the city, and thousands of parents would've been thinking _my God, don't let my children be one of __**them**_.

Three months ago, Sephiroth had come back, only to be destroyed again by Cloud Strife. Three months ago, Barret Wallace decided he belonged in Midgar with his friends and daughter after all, and settled down right next to Tifa Lockheart's and Cloud's Seventh Heaven Bar and Restaurant. He started helping Cloud out with his delivery business, just like he used to do.

All in all, three months ago, the chaos ended . . . leaving a very bored Marlene Wallace on Fall Break from school.

Of course she was glad her surrogate father was back home, but that meant he had to work. And like Cloud, that could sometimes take a very long time. A couple of weeks after the Geostigma went away, so did Denzel—to go live with Reeve, one of his friends and the son of the woman he lived with. The parting had been sad, but Denzel left her with the bright promise that they would see each other in school. _Yes, but, will it really be the same?_ She asked herself every day.

So, really, life did go on as normal, except for without Denzel. She helped out Tifa in the restaurant, she did some school work, she went home to eat dinner with Daddy and sometimes Cid or Yuffie. When Barret was working late, Marlene stayed the night with Tifa and Cloud like she used to.

Life went on. It always does, Marlene learned, and it _was_ amazing how often history repeated itself, but even a six-year-old realized that after living an epic, it's impossible to just go back living like nothing ever happened. Impossible.

**XxXxXx**

**Okay. So on to chapter one!**


	2. Chapter One: Book Of Shadows

**Aaaand here's chapter one, revised xD.**

**One: Book of Shadows**

"Marlene?" Tifa asked one sunny Saturday afternoon in late November. "Could you come down a minute?" It was the busiest hour of the day for Seventh Heaven, noon, and Tifa was taking orders left and right for the chattering customers that sat smiling around the tables, chewing lunch foods and sipping warm drinks for the cold weather.

"Coming," Marlene sighed, tossing her long brown braid out of her face as she concentrated on the picture she'd been working on. It was a picture of Cloud fighting a monster, and she was actually quite proud of how she'd captured the pointiness of his hair, but was disappointed when she realized she'd made his sword look about fifteen times bigger than it really was.

She quickly got to her feet, skipped down the stairs and ducked under the bar counter where Tifa took down orders.

"Sweetheart, would you do something for me?"

Marlene chewed her lip hesitantly. She really did want to fix Cloud's sword. "Okay."

"There's a cook book in my room on the shelf. Could you get it for me? I've been trying to get this 'Cremita' recipe right, but I know I'm doing something wrong," Tifa said, her dark eyes narrowing in frustration at the pitcher in front of her.

"Sure Tifa," Marlene answered, heading for Tifa's room upstairs.

The layout of Seventh Heaven was fairly simple. The entrance floor was a restaurant setting with eight large circular tables scattered throughout the floor. On the east side was the bar, and beyond that was a kitchen where Tifa, Cloud, and Marlene ate at personally, and doubled as the kitchen restaurant as well. The open stairs north of the restaurant section led to a hallway where there were three bedrooms. Cloud's room was on the far left, Tifa's room was right in the middle, and Marlene's room was in the very right corner of the hallway. A small forgotten door to the west of the tables led to the basement—a place Marlene had only been in once. She wasn't allowed to go in there. According to Tifa, it was dangerous.

Marlene loved Tifa's room. It was always clean and had something left undiscovered in it. It wasn't especially colorful, in fact, it was painted an off-white color, which didn't appeal much to Marlene, but she figured Tifa survived well enough. However the room always smelled faintly of vanilla, Marlene's favorite smell, and held a lingering touch of her friend, even when not in the room.

"Now where is it . . ." she murmured to herself as she marched over to the bookshelf. She had quite a history with the old oak bookshelf, elegantly carved and full. She could remember back when she was four, Tifa would read her some of the wonderfully painted children's books that even now she liked to sit down and look at the enchanting pictures. There were many other kinds of books too. A few books had pictures of women with big chests and small dresses with names like '_Love's Last Summer'_. One day she asked Tifa if she would read those to her, but Tifa turned red and said they should stick to children's books. Other books were in different languages with pictures of the weirdest creatures she'd ever seen in her life, and some books had no pictures at all. Those she tried to avoid. She was a very visual person.

She found the thin blue cookbook, slid it out without much trouble, and was ready to take it back downstairs to Tifa, when a glint of gold caught her eye behind the cookbook. Curiously, she turned back to the bookshelf and squeezed her hand through the small gap to finger a very thick brown leather book edged with a thin gold thread.

Strange . . . Marlene had never noticed _this_ book before. Removing a few books, she was able to reach it easily. It was heavy and thickly bound. Obviously, this book was to be kept safe. Furrowing her eyes, she read the cover aloud to herself.

"_Book of Shadows: Tools for Materia._" The letters were engraved in gold with a graceful and charming form. She thought about the title. She knew what Materia was—Yuffie wouldn't fight without them and she was pretty sure Cloud had some hidden somewhere. The small colorful globes filled with Lifestream were strange and delightful to her

She wondered why she had never seen this book before. Why was it ignored and left to gather dust in the back of Tifa's bookshelf? She didn't know why, but she didn't like it.

As she headed for the door after putting the books back and delivered the cookbook, an idea formulated quickly in her head before she went back upstairs.

"Tifa? May I borrow a book?" Tifa always let her borrow books.

"Sure sweetie," Tifa answered distractedly, "just be careful with it."

"I will Tifa!" Marlene agreed happily. She dashed back upstairs, grabbed the heavy brown Materia book and ran back to her own room, closing the door behind her.

Marlene's room was painted a light pink with a light blue ceiling, much to Cloud's chagrin. Back when he was first painting it for her, he would jokingly complain that "You expect me to draw with you in a room this color? Ah, you kill a man!" He would mutter with a smile.

As for the condition her room was in today, well, it had been worse. There _were_ several toys scattered about, but there were no clothes on the floor and her sheets and blankets were still on the bed, so at least she didn't put her entire self to shame. She jumped up onto her springy blue bed cover and set the book on her lap. Opening it up, she was surprised to see that there was no introduction, dedication or even a copyright! Just lists. Lists of words written in a flowery golden script. As if it had been a blank book before someone filled it with words in another language. The column headings were readable with words like _element_, and _projectile, necro, summons, restoration, and common-use. _There were four columns that ran down each parchment page. The first column and third columns were in English, and said things like 'Magic Missile' or 'Blinding Fog', but the second and fourth columns were in completely different languages. No headings or anything. Just those words. Marlene let out a breath, disappointed. For all she knew this was some parent's sentimental recollections of their baby's first words.

Skimming through the rest of the book she concluded that the whole book was full of these columns. No pictures. Hmm. The back cover held a bit of interest though. An old, yellow sticky-note had been stuck to the inside back cover. Leaning over, Marlene examined it: _Materia and Vadalai-boom!_ The note was in a girl's handwriting, but it definitely wasn't Tifa's flowing script. This was much more . . . bubbly. Possibly Yuffie's; it made sense since she was the Materia _Queen_, but still . . . what did 'Vadalai' mean and what did it have to do with Tifa?

There were too many unanswered questions for Marlene's liking. Whatever this book did, it must be important. And she was bound and determined to find out just how important it was.

**XxXxXx**

"Hey Tifa, can I go down to the basement?" Marlene asked Tifa the next morning during work. It was an innocent enough question, but the answer might provide her with more information than Tifa realized she was sharing. The rest of the prior evening, after Seventh Heaven had closed, had been spent with Daddy after he got done with work, eating dinner and chatting about the day, but also devising a plan to learn more about the book. She had stashed it underneath her bed at Seventh Heaven so she hadn't gotten a chance to see it since she went home.

"It's dark down there. You don't want to be in the basement Marlene," Tifa answered, wiping down a counter.

"Well what if I turn on a light?" True enough, the basement _was_ pretty scary when the lights were off.

"There are dangerous things in the basement. You might get hurt."

"What _kinds_ of dangerous things?" Marlene hinted.

"Swords and guns and such." Tifa answered patiently.

"I wouldn't touch them," Marlene remarked. Tifa nodded.

"I know. But you still could hurt yourself down there. Besides. Yuffie would kill me if I let anyone near her Materia."

"Oh," Marlene smiled. That had been just the answer she was looking for. "I see."

**XxXxXx**

As was Marlene's luck, neither Daddy nor Cloud came home that night. That meant she spent the night at Seventh Heaven. She waited until _midnight_ to quietly take off her covers, slide her bare feet into a pair of slippers, and quietly pad down the stairs.

Seventh Heaven was silent and dark at night. She couldn't recall ever being down in the restaurant this late, alone. It was uncomforting, and she moved faster. She cringed each time a wooden floorboard squeaked under her and scurried over to the other side of the hall where the basement door was.

As quietly as she could, she took the cold doorknob into her sweaty hand and twisted it. The door opened easily, without much squeaking and she stepped onto the first stair, closing the door behind her. Quickly she flipped on the light switch, and let out a breath of relief as the basement was flooded with a dingy, yellow hue. A cool draft blew in, causing Marlene to shiver in her white nightgown, lacy and flowing and eerie. She padded down the rest of the stairs and looked ahead.

The basement was without doubt the messiest part of Seventh Heaven. Tifa would never allow such disorderliness on the surface at least, so Marlene guessed she hadn't been down here in awhile either. Boxes overflowing with all kinds of miscellaneous junk lined the basement. Spare tools, swords, and guns, lay right in the middle of the floor for anyone to step on, or trigger, or trip over. The basement was fairly spacious, but with all this stuff in it, there was hardly any room to walk!

Marlene scrutinized the floor, looking for a box that _wasn't_ rotting cardboard. And she found it. She remembered this chest from months ago when she threw one at that silver-haired man that kidnapped her. At the time she barely knew what she was throwing around.

The heavy iron chest up against the wall served its purpose in keeping the Materia safe. She ran to it, making sure not to step on any Buster swords, and heaved the heavy top up. Inside the chest was a layer of glowing dancing lights within the globes. _Perfect_. Looking around, she found a brown, opaque leather knapsack. Carefully placing seven Materia into it, she shut the heavy lid of the chest, closed the knapsack—the Materia completely invisible inside it—and headed back upstairs to bed.

Mission Successful.

**XxXxXx**

**Please review for more chapters!**


	3. Chapter Two: Materia Trials

Two: Materia Trials

The next morning Marlene awoke groggily—unusual for her--especially at the lazy hour of nine in the morning. Giving her Materia and book a quick check-on under her bed, she stumbled downstairs after dressing in her trademark turtle-neck and skirt. Downstairs, she was surprised to see none other but Daddy and Cloud sitting at the counter among the other customers.

"Daddy!" She exclaimed happily, running over to him. The big black man's face lit up with pride as she ran up and hugged him. He squeezed her back, lifting her up and setting her down on his lap.

"Hey Marlene, sorry we didn't get back last night, it was pretty busy." He said in his rough voice she had grown to know so well

"It's okay," she said quickly. "Tifa and I had fun here. I missed you though."

"I missed you too. Hey, I picked something up for you yesterday! But I'll only give it to you if you give your daddy a kiss!" Marlene grinned and gave her father and planted a big wet smack on his right cheek.

"Here you go!" He said proudly as he produced a small velvet box. Curiously, Marlene opened the top, revealing a beautiful silver chain necklace with a four-pointed diamond 'M'. Marlene's face lit up.

"Daddy," she breathed unable to turn her gaze from it, "thank you!". Barret smiled a little and shrugged in embarrassment.

"You're welcome." He replied, trying to sound casual.

Marlene showed the necklace to Tifa. "That's beautiful Barret!" Tifa smiled, helping Marlene fasten it on, glad Barret and his daughter were connecting personally again. He and Marlene had spent too much time apart, even with the many phone calls.

"So what have you been up to lately Marlie?" Barret asked, calling the small girl by both of their favorite nickname. She stole a glance upstairs before answering.

"Well, I found a good book," she offered.

"You like reading? I've got a couple of good books if you want to check 'em out sometime," he offered back.

"What have _you_ been doing?" She asked, changing the subject. Barret chuckled.

"Nothing interesting. I don't know how Cloud does it—drive, drive, and drive. There goes my day." Barret punched Cloud's shoulder and the blonde cracked a smile.

"Well it's not all bad when you've got a bike as cool as mine," he winked at Marlene. She giggled.

"Ah git outta here!" Barret exclaimed. "Nothing. Will ever. Beat my car." He grinned indulgently at the black corvette outside. "And I've got it down-packed, one-handed," he said, referring to the large, triple gun that served as a 'prosthetic' for his missing arm. "Therefore I'm a better driver than you _ever_ could be."

"Fair enough, fair enough," Cloud mused. "But my bike is still cooler." He added with a smile. "Well, I'mgonnagoorganizemyswords. Goodbye!" He said brightly, before Barret could get the last word in, laughed, and headed for the exit. Tifa chuckled to herself and shook her head. Barret sighed.

"Well, I probably better get back to work baby. You be good, okay?" Barret asked the child in his arms.

"Okay," she agreed, and scampered down. "Tifa, is it okay if I go outside for a little while?"

"Yes, just don't go too far. And be back in time for lunch. Okay?"

"Okay!" Marlene agreed, and shut the door behind her.

**XxXxXx**

Fifteen minutes later, Marlene, the book, and her newly acquired Materia were in the woods surrounding the Seventh Heaven. Behind Seventh Heaven was a stark, thick forest of trees. They were safe, and it was part of the property, yet Marlene never really had been out there before. She found a thin trail that she followed maybe a quarter mile until she came to a small, open clearing. She looked around. The woods fell in a small circle around her. A big tree was set at the North side of the clearing, and a boulder to the East. The forests were thick and chilly, letting little sunshine in. There had been a thin frost earlier in the day, but was now beginning to thaw at ten in the morning. Marlene gently set down the inconspicuous brown bag and took out the Magick book.

Barret and Cloud had left for the day and Tifa was busy with the restaurant. It really was the best it was going to get if Marlene wanted to experiment. When thinking of a good place to experiment with her new hobby, she decided it would be a good idea to do it outdoors where it was less likely she would hurt someone, or get in trouble.

She took out a bright blue Materia, held open the book open to a section that was labeled 'Projectile', and said the magic word.

"Eel . . . deen . . . avay . . . na?" She stuttered, trying to read the horrendous word. Nothing happened. Odd.

"El—den—ay—va?"

Nothing happened. Again. Letting out a short breath of frustration, she studied the word. Again, and again, and again. That was what Cloud taught her to do. _You'll never know the word unless you read the word_.

With a newfound confidence she tried again.

"Eldanyavana!"

Nothing changed. And for the life of her, she didn't know why. She was certain she had the word right, but wasn't something supposed to happen? Maybe there was another word that went along with it, or maybe . . . maybe she didn't have the Materia right. She had a flashback to Yuffie using the Materia. When she had Materia, she remembered, it would meld with her very hand.

Marlene gulped, looking at the glowing ball with the dancing lights in the palm of her hand. She was suddenly scared. It didn't look like it hurt or felt strange to Yuffie when she did it, but Yuffie _was_ bigger . . . maybe there was a reason why she wasn't allowed to touch the Materia.

No. The words were written in the book for a reason: it did something. And Yuffie and Cloud _did_ use the often, so the Materia _must_ be safe . . .

With that conclusion, she took the Materia with her left hand and pushed it into her right wrist. Instantly, a new energy jolted through her. Her wrist pulsed with pressure and her arm lit up a light, vivid blue—the same color as the Materia. Her wrist glowed like the dancing lights inside them. Wanting to laugh with giddiness, she took a quick glance at the book on the ground beneath her, and held her hand out in front of her.

"Eldanyavana!" She yelled. With a strange, tingle and pulsing feeling that shivered through her whole body, two powerful jets of unrestrained blue and white energy shot out from her wrists, arching into a circle, and meeting—in the branch of a tree that was now burnt to a crisp.

Awe-struck, she watched as silence ensued—the branch dropping from the tree to the ground and disintegrating. _Wow_. Breathless, she glanced at her wrist, which continued to pulse and glow, if not as much pressured. Guiltily, she glanced around, but no one had seen it. She would get in _so_ much trouble . . . Without a word she quickly gathered up her book and her bag, threw on her sweater (which she was very glad she brought) and headed back for Seventh Heaven.

**XxXxXx**

"Tifa! I'm back! Do you need any help? What are you doing the rest of the day? Do you know when Daddy and Cloud are coming back? Are we still going shopping on Friday? What are you making?"

Tifa was taken aback.

"Wow I don't know which question to answer first!" She laughed as Marlene came charging through the door, breathless, holding an old knapsack. "But I suppose I can try. No but thank you, nothing—for once, around seven PM, yes, and something called Nantua Sauce. Now what's put a bee in your bonnet?" She asked the younger girl playfully, whose energy visibly was halted.

"Just . . . playing outside." Interesting.

"Ah," Tifa nodded smartly, "you're wearing your sweater! I didn't know if you ever would!" She noticed, gesturing to her light green fuzzy sweater. Marlene nodded silently, fidgeting and pulling down on her right sleeve.

"Well, it got cold out." She said, looking away, pulling her sweater tighter around herself. "What's Nantua Sauce? Can I try some?" She asked, changing the subject. Tifa smiled.

"It's a pasta sause with fish in it. I guess you can try some if you'd like," Tifa shrugged, dipping a spoon in the warm gravy and handing it to Marlene.

"Mmm," Marlene nodded, giving Tifa the thumbs-up sign. "You're the best cook in the whole world Tifa."

"Well I don't know about that," Tifa chuckled. "But thank you."

"I'm going upstairs now. I should finish my drawing," Marlene said, hurrying up the stairs. "Oh, Tifa, one more question—do you think books can be dangerous?" Tifa turned to look at Marlene. Hadn't she already gone through that oh-so _fun_ 'countless questions' stage when she was four years old?

"I suppose they can be if they tell you to do wrong things Marlene . . ." She said almost a little suspicious.

"Oh . . . " that question seemed to have run its course.

"Bye . . . Marlene . . ." She was already up in her room. _That has got to be one of the strangest conversation I've ever had with that girl_, she thought to herself.

**XxXxXx**

With shaking hands, Marlene opened the door to her bedroom, stepped in, closed it, and flung herself onto her bed, gripping he knapsack. Ripping off her sweater and tossing it onto the cluttered mauve floor, she stared at her wrist with growing wonder. The glowing hadn't faded—which could get pretty tricky, hiding from Tifa, Daddy, and Cloud. She couldn't keep wearing that green sweater every day and most of her clothes were turtle-necked tank-tops. Very unconventional, she decided. When Tifa and her went shopping, she would make an immediate wardrobe change and buy some more long-sleeved tops.

But the lights! The magic words and the _energy!_ Never had she felt anything more exhilarating than when those beams of energy arched neatly around before her eyes, and hit the same target. _Never_.


	4. Chapter Three: Meet The Family

**Hello everyone, another chapter's here. Now let's get up close and personal with AVALANCHE now why don't we? Onward and upward!**

Three: Meet The Family

"Hey, you know what's got into Marlene today?" Cloud asked his sort-of girlfriend Tifa that night after dinner as they sat around in Cloud's sterile silver room. Marlene had gone home with Barret, toting her new best friend The Brown Knapsack with her. Nobody said anything directly, but Cloud was right—Marlene had been acting especially . . . jittery.

"I don't know," Tifa sighed, curling up on Cloud's couch. "It sure was cute though."

"I'm worried about her." Cloud said. Tifa rolled her eyes.

"_Why_?"

"I don't know—kids don't just _change_. Maybe she's finally realizing Denzel's not living here anymore. Maybe it's Post Traumatic Stress Disorder from the Reunion. Maybe you should give her 'The Talk'."

"_Cloud_! She's six years old!"

"Okay, okay. Well maybe she's having problems adjusting—you know, to living with Barret—"

"Or _maybe_, she was being a kid and got a little hyper. They go through this."

"And what makes _you_ such an expert?" Cloud asked, rifling through a bin full of old metal objects that were less than identifiable to the normal eye. Tifa smiled.

"I grew up with you, silly."

**XxXxXx**

Marlene lay quietly in her bed at Daddy's house, waiting for her father fall asleep, while fidgeting with the endeared necklace she had gotten earlier that day. She studied her room. Her room at Daddy's was much different than her room at Seventh Heaven. This room had light blue walls with white carpet. It had a really big fluffy lavender bed, a night stand and a lamp next to it, and a TV. There was also a desk, a chair, a big closet, and a painting of a ballerina, but that was pretty much it. Most of her toys, clothes, and other things were at Seventh Heaven, so, as a rule, this room was always the cleaner of the two. She liked it well enough, but it didn't have the personality that her room in Seventh Heaven—the room she'd grown up with—had. This room was sterile and more mature. She liked having two rooms though. It was fun. There was a girl in her class—Leigh—who had two rooms, but that was only because her parents were divorced and it didn't sound fun the way she made it sound. Sometimes she was glad she didn't have an official 'mother'. Tifa may as well have been, but she got away with about as much as a niece does with her aunt. And Daddy had never married.

No, she loved her family just the way it was. Daddy, Tifa, Cloud, occasionally Yuffie and Cid, and even on more rare occasions, Vincent. She had seen Yuffie often since, what was now referred to as, the Reunion. Yuffie was like an older sister to Marlene so she always enjoyed when Yuffie dropped by for a day or two. Cid, although Tifa always said he was a little 'rough around the edges' and warned Marlene not to pick up any of his language habits, was great to have around. Never planned, he would drop by at the most random of times, and would stay anytime between ten minutes or a few hours. Never longer though, and the first thing he would do whenever he saw Marlene is ruffle her hair, say 'heya kid, how've ya been?' and bring her candies from all sorts of places he'd been to. Guaranteed every single time. He'd leave just as quickly as he came, complaining that he had a jet to pilot or a carrier to touch up. His air-carriers were always fun to ride in too. There were all humongous, with wall-length windows. And even if they didn't look so good from the outside, the inside was always like stepping into a five-star hotel.

Vincent Valentine was really the only one she didn't understand. They wouldn't see him for over a year and then suddenly he'd pop up in Midgar, staying at Seventh Heaven for a week or more. Marlene quite liked the way he wore a long red cape, and the way he didn't carry around things like phones. Tifa said he 'invented originality'. Tifa was good at sizing people up like that. Summarizing. It gave Marlene a good solid thought to stand on.

Aeris . . . had been the last member of her family. But she had been sent back to the Lifestream two and a half years ago. Marlene still cried about that sometimes. But, she knew it was okay because she knew that sometimes Cloud did too. Aeris, to her, would forever be imprinted on her mind as an angel. No matter what anyone else told her. She was forever beautiful and wise and graceful with a soft lilting voice and a slow and elegant bounce in her step.

She knew that, out of all of them, Cloud missed her the very most. She could understand why too. Yuffie once told her that Aeris was Cloud's very best friend, which at the time, Marlene thought debatable because she had always thought Tifa was Cloud's best friend. It had been surprising to everyone, that Cloud had been living in her old church . . . but then not so surprising. That year Cloud had been different. He'd been quiet and hardly ever smiled. He would go on long trips and not call and have bad dreams about Sephiroth and Aeris and Soldiers.

Somehow the Reunion changed him though, and he was, at least starting to show changes to going back to how Cloud is supposed to be. Every once in awhile though, she knew he _did_ go back to the church, to think or to be alone. Everything _would_ be better if Aeris was back, but somehow they were making their way in the world. Surviving without her. Though at times things got rough and people would always say 'if Aeris was here . . .'

So that was her family. It was a little bit smaller than it had been since Denzel lived with Reeve now and Red XIII had gone with Cait to travel the world. But Daddy, Cloud, Tifa, Yuffie, Cid, and even Vincent she had known her whole life. She felt nothing could separate them anymore.

But that night Marlene wasn't thinking about her room or family. She was waiting for Daddy to fall asleep so she could take a closer look at her book.

She had replayed the scene from that morning over and over again in her mind. Each time she shivered at the details—the fairy-like mist that engulfed the jets of pure energy. At _her_ command. She promised herself she wouldn't touch the 'projectile' section of the book and would mostly just practice spells that didn't involve fire or destructive energy. She got excited thinking about the next time she would go practice. Maybe if she got really good she wouldn't have to hide it from Tifa because she could help fight.

And then finally! The rhythmic sounds of her father's soft snoring permeated through the thin walls. Marlene flicked on her lamp and reached for her brown knapsack she had stashed inside her night stand cabinet. She tugged at the draw-strings, pulled out the book, and opened it up in the middle. To her interest, she noted yellow sticky notes worn into the deep creases of the book.

"_The weak will always obey the master_", one said. "_All my demons cast a spell,_" another said. She thought about them. She understood the first well enough—she supposed that the spells would have to be not strong in order to be controlled, thus no big and powerful spells—but what of the second? _All my demons cast a spell . . ._ she didn't understand it. It was beyond her. She felt too overwhelmed by the statement to _try_ to understand it. They were in the same handwriting as the sticky note in the back. Marlene thought about these notes.

Turning the page, she eagerly awaited more notes she could decipher into tips and tricks. Lo and behold—another yellow sticky-note! _Dark light__ spell greater chance of success_. Dark light? What was 'dark light' supposed to mean? Dark _with_ a light? Some sort of half-way point like a shadow? Would it be better to cast the spells under a shadow? Horribly inconvenient, Marlene decided. But if not that, then what? Dark _and_ light? In the same place? That didn't make much sense either. Except for, maybe . . . night. Night was certainly dark as she was witnessing, but when the _moon_ was out, it was _dark-light_. Why didn't the sticky-note writer just scribble: _works better in moonlight_? It would've saved some time and mental stress.

Midgar got a brilliant view of the moon, she thought, so any night would be a good night to practice. In fact, _this_ night would even be possible . . . no. Much too risky and scary. The basement was scary enough. Even the image of being out alone in the dark forest that late and chanting strange words scared her. She decided that tomorrow night at around seven would be a good time since the days were getting shorter and shorter and the night was coming earlier and earlier.

With that conclusive thought, she placed the book back into her knapsack, returning to her nightstand cabinet, flicked off her lamp, and settled down to sleep.

**XxXxXx**

**I'll update next Monday peeps, as per usual! Thank you AthenaChrome for the detailed reviews!**


	5. Chapter Four: One More Arguement

**Hello readers, thanks for the hits! Here's another chapter (hey...AthenaChrome...you're still alive, right?) Well here ya'll go! Have fun! And please review!**

Four: One More Argument

"Hey, Marlene? It's time for dinner!" Marlene heard Tifa call from downstairs. Marlene dropped what she was doing and headed down to the kitchen. It was six fifteen. 45 minutes until she was outside. Heading downstairs with her knapsack, she was puzzled to see Daddy and Tifa, but not Cloud.

She sat down at the table set for four, and slid the knapsack under her chair. "Where's Cloud?" She asked inquisitively. Barret looked at Tifa who didn't pause or look up.

"He's at the church sweetie." Oh. Again. "Now you said you liked that Nantua sauce? Well I perfected it today."

As she quickly speared at her food with her fork, she couldn't help but ask, "How long is he going to be gone?" She thought she saw a flicker of anger in Tifa's eyes, but it was quickly replaced with forced temperance.

"He'll be back soon."

"Okay. How was work Daddy?" She asked the quiet Barret.

"Good, it was good, but I'm probably going to be looking for a different job once your school starts up again, okay?" He said. Tifa sat down at her own plate and began to slowly eat.

"Why?" Marlene asked. Barret took a deep breath.

"Well Marlene, the Delivery business is Cloud's business. It's not my thing. All the driving . . . and I'd like to be able to be home earlier, to be with you awright?"

"What kind of job do you want to get?" Marlene asked, happy her father was going to be home more often than not.

"I dunno. I was thinking something either in the building or architect field. Lord knows Midgar could use some help in that area, and the Lord also knows I've got what it takes. You always want to use your talents or gifts where they're going to be needed most Marlene. You remember that, kay?"

"Kay. How was _your_ day at work, Tifa?"

"It was good. Busy, but good. Friendly. My favorite kind of day," Tifa smiled at Marlene.

"Well, looks like we're about done. Thanks for dinner Tifa. I guess Marlene and I should be gettin' home now." Barret rose to leave, taking his dishes to the sink.

"May I go outside and play for a little while?" Marlene asked innocently.

Barret sighed and looked out at the dark night, alit with a full moon. "I don't know, Marlene. It's pretty dark out . . ." he said hesitantly.

"I won't get lost," she pleaded, "pleeeease Daddy?" She begged, staring up at him with those big brown eyes she knew he couldn't resist. He chuckled.

"Well I'll be. Go ahead, but be in the house by eight thirty okay? Here, take my watch. I've got another." He unbuckled his nice black Rolex and handed it to Marlene who clumsily fastened it loosely around her own small wrist.

"Okay, thank you Daddy! Bye Tifa! Tell Cloud I said good night!"

"See you tomorrow Marlene. I will."

**XxXxXx**

The forest was cool and frosty and black. Marlene made her way back to the small woodsy clearing she had been last, took a deep breath and stepped over to the fallen branch. It was burnt black and in pieces. Marlene shook her head in disbelief. _She_ had done that. She shrugged off her knapsack and took out the book. She also shed her sweater, even though it must've been 30 degrees outside. The Materia in her wrist was still luminous with a sharp steel-blue. She thought back to the silver-haired man during the Reunion who was able to summon a dragon with one Materia. If a Materia could do that, then this Materia could probably cast hundreds of spells and last for a long, long time!

"Okay . . ." she muttered to herself as she flipped through the book's pages, using her wrist as a light. "Ah! Here we go . . . Common-use." In the common use section there were hundreds of fun, useful little spells she could use more often then not around the house. One spell in particular caught her eye. Mini-size? Like, shrinking? Thrilling! Of _course_ she'd try it out!

"Yanten!" She declared. Her eyes bulged out as a slithering feeling came over her and she suddenly became much closer to the ground. She dropped the book with a scream and breathed hard as she realized she was now about an inch and a half tall.

The vastness of the world was overpowering. A fallen leaf's edge came up to her neck. "Hello?" Marlene giggled, wondering if anyone would be able to hear her if they were there. "Anyone there?!" She called as loud as she could. Nothing. This could be fun!

_Sssss._

What was that?

_Sssss._

Marlene turned to her left and screamed in terror. A big ugly beetle that before would have been nothing, was now scuttling straight toward her. It was about as big as a dog (to her) and she was petrified. Black pincers opened and snapped shut. Marlene sprinted for the book, eternally grateful that it had landed on the open page, scrambled on top of the page, and realized she was standing on the spell that she had cast. The spell above it was a spell for growth. Perfect. Darting her eyes back to the beetle, she panicked. _Right behind her_! Gritting her teeth in alarm, she braced herself for the worst.

"Vomei," she whimpered, and immediately her wrist flared and she was growing again. Marlene shut her eyes until the elevator-like feeling had left and she was her normal size.

Shocked, she fell against the tree, breathless, and slid to a sitting position. The beetle crawled into a hole into the tree next to her. As she gathered her wits, she ticked off a mental list.

_Alright, so. No projectiles, elements, __**or**__ messing with dimensions. Got it. Right._ As much as the beetle-incident had scared her, she wasn't quite ready to call it a night. She discovered that with the combination of her father's watch and her long sleeved top, the glow from the Materia was covered quite well. From then on she thought carefully about the spells she was going to cast. She discovered that an 'Ember Hands' spell was quite delightful, causing her hands to glow and heat like embers without burning herself, but when she touched a tree, a black handprint was imprinted on it. She hoped that by the time she had gotten good at this spell casting there would be at least a _few_ trees left.

'Needles' made her feel very numb and very strange. She could pinch herself time and time again and wouldn't feel a thing. That spell, as well as 'Ember Hands', faded away within a half hour. By that time it was eight o' clock and she figured she should head home.

**XxXxXx**

Walking back down the trail with her trusty knapsack, she couldn't help but be drawn to the sounds coming from Seventh Heaven. Curious, she stopped by, wondering what the commotion was. As she got closer, she was suddenly afraid. Cloud was back, she could hear his voice, but it wasn't the friendly calm she was used to. It was cold and angry.

Tifa's voice, too, could be heard, and it wasn't dissimilar to Cloud's tone. Taking a seat at the door, she drew her knees up to her chest and listened, hoping nobody would catch her eavesdropping.

"Why can't you at least _tell someone where you're going to be going_? It's not that hard to make a call, Cloud!" Tifa argued.

"I wanted to be alone! I'm my own person; I didn't know I had to inform everyone I was going to be late."

"You know what I don't understand Cloud? How you say you want to be alone and your own person, when you still call yourself a part of this family. Families aren't alone! Why do you do that to yourself _and_ us? Marlene asked me where you were today, and _I_ couldn't answer completely truthfully."

Marlene stiffened as she heard her name. Tifa continued.

"I told her you were at the church, but how was I supposed to know you were at the church?"

"I _was_ at the church. You didn't lie. So what's the big deal?"

"Remember this Cloud. Aeris's death happened to all of us. Not just you, okay? And all of us deal with it but you. You're not."

"_That's_ not fair." Cloud said angrily. "You say I haven't been dealing with it? What do you call this business?"

"Escape," Tifa answered quietly. "You're away _so_ much. Do you think that by driving your bike down to the ends of the earth you're going to get away from the past? Yeah maybe you're over the guilt trip, but now it's time to deal with the sadness that comes with losing someone. You haven't had the chance to do that yet. And I think it's time."

"So what do you want me to do? Give up the business and sell my bike?"

"No! I never said that! I think you need to deal with Aeris! And how you do is your problem because I'm sick of putting up with _this_!"

Marlene cringed, slipped away from the door, and headed for home, troubled. She didn't think Tifa ever fought with anyone except bad people. She glanced over her shoulder to the knapsack. Maybe someday one of her spells could help them. Maybe . . .

**XxXxXx**

The next morning, Marlene helped Tifa with dishes as they were closed on Fridays. So far she hadn't said anything about what she heard the night before, but she decided it was time for some answers.

"Are you all ready for school on Monday?" Tifa asked, wiping down a couple of bowls with a white dish-cloth.

"Yeah," Marlene answered distractedly. She figured now was as good a time as ever to pose her question though. "Tifa, is Cloud going to move somewhere else?" She asked timidly. Tifa slowed and stopped her pace, turning to look at Marlene.

"No . . . Why would you ask that?" She asked. Marlene turned her eyes to the sink, embarrassed.

"Well, I heard you and Cloud fight a little bit last night, accidentally." She admitted. "I didn't know grown-up friends were allowed to fight." It was now Tifa's turn to look sheepish. She brushed a strand of long, dark, straight hair out of her eyes.

"I'm really sorry you heard that Marlene. Truth is, grown-ups fight just like kids do. It's not right, but it's nothing you grow out of either. Nobody gets along all the time.

"Does Cloud still miss Aeris?" Marlene asked, knowing the answer. Tifa reached out and touched Marlene's cheek.

"We all miss Aeris honey, and we all always will. But even when someone you love dies, that doesn't mean you should stop living too. Cloud, he just needs to be reminded of that once in awhile."

"Do you wish Aeris was still alive?" Marlene asked Tifa. She looked up, startled.

"Of course I do. Sometimes it feels like our family won't make it without her. And, no, it'll never be the same without her, but," she winked and smiled at Marlene who giggled, "I think we've done okay—don't you?"

"Yep!"

"Good—now go get your shoes. We're going shopping!"

**XxXxXx**

That evening Tifa and Marlene brought seven full shopping bags back to Seventh Heaven. Shopping with Tifa was always fun because she basically threw everything that fit into the bag. In the end, Marlene had several new outfits (most of the tops were long-sleeved).

However, they didn't expect to find Cloud sitting at the counter. "Hey!" He exclaimed, and quickly rushed to meet them, taking their bags. "Do these need to go upstairs? Here—let me take them." He quickly delivered the bags to Marlene's room and was back downstairs in an instant.

"Hello, Cloud," Tifa said cautiously.

"Cloud! You're home early!" Called Marlene, running for a hug, which he received.

"I was going to make dinner, but I remembered the last time I tried to make dinner, hehe," he chuckled nervously, running a hand through his long blonde hair, "so I brought home some pizza . . . that okay?" He asked earnestly.

"Y-yeah," Tifa said, surprised. "How'd you get home so early?" Tifa asked, stretching, and setting her keys down.

"Well, I uh, changed my work schedule." Tifa's jaw dropped.

"You did _what_?" She asked.

"Yay!" Cheered Marlene.

"Yeah—I'm gonna be home by five-thirty every night from now on and I'm taking weekends off too." Tifa clasped her hands together happily.

"How'd you do that?" She asked. Cloud blew out a breath.

"Well, I'm limiting my map to closer locations, and I'm . . . taking fewer jobs a week." Cloud said.

"Even with Barret finding a different job?" Tifa asked, as if the news was too good to be true. Cloud just laughed and shrugged.

"I work alone, remember?" Tifa gave him a small smile.

"Thank you," she said softly.

"For you," he obliged with a smile.

"Does this mean you two are done fighting?" Marlene asked, her hands planted on her hips. Tifa and Cloud glanced at each other quickly, chuckling embarrassed, before turning away, both blushing.

"Let's eat," Tifa suggested, taking a couple of plates from the cabinets. "Where _is_ Barret anyway?"

"Oh that's right!" Cloud remembered, "Marlene, you're staying the night here tonight. Your dad's not going to be back 'til late. He's out job-hunting. Told me to say 'hi' to you for him."

"Okay," Marlene replied, satisfied.

"Your school starts up again on Monday, right?" Cloud asked.

"Yep." Usually Marlene liked school well enough, but with recent circumstances, first grade would seem long and primitive. She could already read and write—Cloud made sure she learned by the time she turned four.

Cloud brought out the pizza and as they sat eating and chatting about their day, Marlene couldn't help but be reminded of the days before Reunion.

**XxXxXx**

By the time they were done eating, it was dark and once again, the moon was out. After excusing herself and promising to be inside by eight-thirty, Marlene took her third trip out to her forest with her brown knapsack.

She thought it was funny, how she had all of a sudden got into the thought mode that the forest clearing was 'hers'. That the book was 'hers'. But then, why shouldn't they be? Clearly it was only Marlene who had paid any attention to them for some time. A jealousy even itched at her as she thought about the book and clearing being owned by someone else. No. She stuck with her theory. Finder's keepers. It was only fair.

Marlene shivered, sliding out of her sweater, glad she had gotten some new clothes—not knowing how long she could keep Tifa from getting suspicious, wearing the same sweater every day.

She glanced around the stiff, frosted forest and wished it would just snow already, instead of being stuck between frosty layers.

She took out her book and decided to try out a spell called 'Blinding Fog'. Raising her wrist, she had gotten the jist of what she was supposed to be doing to cast the spell.

"Xorlet!"

Slowly, a thick black fog began to spew from her wrist. It went over uneasily by Marlene—too strongly reminded of the Geostigma. She coughed and spluttered at the dankness of the air. It smelled strange—like wet smoke—as it permeated throughout the trees.

Rolling her eyes, she sat down crossly at the base of the big tree, realizing she'd have to wait for the blackness to fade and clear before trying to cast another spell.

A good 15 minutes later, the fog did fade—in the meanwhile, Marlene turned to a section called 'Restoration'. She was a little doubtful about this section—after all, she was fairly certain she wasn't hurt or disabled. Either way, she cast a hearing-spell which made her hearing about 17 times better than it normally was. This ended up being quite painful, so she cancelled it by casting a different spell. She figured those were the rules—if you want a spell to stop before it wears off, cast a different one.

The one she cast was a sight-spell, which made her vision zoom in to every one of the tiniest of details. It was very fun. She decided against casting a scent-spell because of the lingering smell of the black fog. So instead she turned to a column that was primarily dedicated to voice changing.

By the time she was done, it was eight-twenty so she packed up her things and headed back to Seventh Heaven.

**XxXxXx**

**Thanks for reading and again, please review!**


	6. Chapter Five: Creature Of The Night

**Here's the next chapter up!**

Five: Creature Of The Night

The next morning Marlene woke up bright and early, but wished she hadn't, so that she didn't have to wait a whole day to go back down to the forest. She had considered going down there in the day time, but quickly decided against it. It would be almost like cheating, going down in the brash and open daylight, besides the fact that the spells probably wouldn't work as well . . . except for the fact that her projectile seemed to work just fine. There was something else too . . . she didn't want to know the daytime forest. It wasn't the same. It would never be.

She considered the forest clearing to be _her_ special place. Maybe like Cloud had the church, she had the trees. It was such a quiet and surreal place. As if reality had abandoned that small corner of Midgar and set it aside—undisturbed and serene, just for a little girl with an intense sense of curiosity and a few strange magic orbs. Troubles of the normal world disappeared when she was there, and the dreamlike state of the winter forest would forever exist. A new Marlene was born in that forest clearing, a Marlene that was wise, but yet had an almost naïve confidence in herself and her magic. She quite liked her new self. The forest showed her darkness in a light and calm sort of way, and she understood why the author of the sticky-notes worded them like they were. There was another world in those frosted and cragged trees. Another time and logic. Another atmosphere. Everything else in the 'real' world seemed small-minded and unimportant. She liked the idea of leaving the unimportance behind in her new world.

She was no longer scared of the dark, just the ways that it would occasionally elude the light. After all, she decided, for a dreamer night's the only time of day. She understood that now, just the way she understood so many new things. She learned her fears, and her misjudgments, her strengths, and secret wishes. She learned what she didn't want to be when she grew up, and wondered how people survived with ordinary day-to-day lives.

As she sat at her bedside, looking thoughtfully out the window, tears suddenly sprang to her eyes. Maybe she and Cloud had some things in common. Maybe she understood him a little better when he was late coming home. Maybe Tifa just didn't know what she was saying when she asked him to stop visiting the church so much. Now she couldn't imagine being denied her forest.

**XxXxXx**

"Hey! Good news Marlene!" Tifa exclaimed once Marlene had emerged from her bedroom, wearing a light blue long sleeved top and skirt. "Remember how your dad said he was going to look for a building job? Well he's been hired by the Midgar zoning committee to design that big apartment complex that was destroyed. Your dad's an architect!"

"Really? That's exciting! When will he get home?" Marlene asked, beaming.

"Well, he starts at eight and will probably get back home around six."

"Is that where he is now?"

"Yep—it's pretty urgent that the complex gets rebuilt soon, with so many people being homeless after the Reunion. They had him start right away. He's a very important man to the city," Tifa said, with a twinkle in her eye, knowing Marlene couldn't be more proud of him if he had no job or house. The great pride that the father and daughter had for each other was very mutual.

"Of course he is!" Marlene boasted, her lungs nearly exploding from her swelling pride. "Where's Cloud? He's not at work—it's Saturday—he said he didn't work on the weekends."

"He went to the mechanic to go get his bike tuned up or something. He'll be back soon. Here's an idea—why don't we plan a celebration for your very important Dad?" Tifa asked.

"That's a _great_ idea Tifa! We can put up balloons, and streamers, and bake a cake, and make him a card . . ." the six-year-old schemed.

"That sounds lovely Marlene. Want to help me make a cake?"

"Yeah! I'll get the eggs!"

**XxXxXx**

Barret Wallace stepped tiredly into the warm glow of Seventh Heaven a few minutes after six, ready for food and Marlene. What he saw as he looked up surprised him. The first noticeable thing was the large colorful banner that read: _Congrats Barret (Daddy)!_ The next were the vivid, primary-colored balloons that adorned the banner, and the third was Tifa, Marlene, and Cloud standing near the table, looking happy. Tifa held a big chocolate-frosted cake.

"Surprise!" Marlene exclaimed, running into his arms for a hug. "Happy Work-Day!"

"Whoa—hey there Marlene—what's all this?" He asked, gesturing to the cake and banner.

"You got your job Barret," Tifa complimented, placing the cake on the table, "It's a time to celebrate!"

"Tifa and I planned it all out today," Marlene said proudly before quickly adding (to give Cloud due credit), "oh—and Cloud helped put up the banner." Cloud chuckled to himself at that.

"No kiddin'!" Barret said, sitting at one of the table's chairs. "Thanks guys," he offered.

"Our pleasure," Tifa smiled warmly. "Now who wants some cake?" Surprise, surprise, everyone did.

"So how was your first day on the job?" Cloud asked, passing out dished of cake that Tifa was cutting.

"It was long," Barret admitted, "but I really haven't begun anything yet. Today I pretty much spent the whole day sitting in a hard office chair at a long table at City Hall getting to know the plans and people involved. It was interesting though. You'll never guess who showed up at that meeting." Barret mused, taking a heavenly bite of chocolate cake.

"Who?" Cloud furrowed his brow. Barret smirked.

"Reno was there."

"Really? Huh. That guy _does_ have a way of getting around. _Why_ was he there?" Cloud asked. Marlene paid close attention, listening intently. She had taken a liking to the funny ShinRa agent with the long red hair.

"Nothing much—just taking notes for the big man I guess. I was able to catch him for a few minutes during a break. He sends his regards."

"And if you happen to see him soon, I give him mine." Cloud replied.

"Actually, that reminds me. You know that magazine—'Planet Peculiar'?" Barret asked Cloud.

"The one that claimed how phantom cows were stalking the Turks? Yeah. Go on." Cloud said with a roll of his eyes.

"Well they did an article today that caught my eye. The weapons from Reunion? They're missing. They're preaching that Kadaj's gang is going to come back like Sephiroth. Sick huh?" He said. Tifa and Marlene were quiet.

"Great. Well it wasn't like the weapons were guarded or anything, even though the site _was_ reserved. Any stupid teenager on a dare could've gotten to them."

"Yep. Well this is quite the shebang. Too bad the whole gang couldn't be here huh? Yuffie's planning on visiting soon, but Lord knows where the heck Cid is—Vincent doesn't exactly count for party material, hehe." Barret said, stretching out.

"That's not the whole gang," Cloud said quietly. Everyone was silent for a minute or so.

"No, I guess it's not. Mmm—It _is_ times like these that I wish she was here," Barret responded finally, breaking the silence. "But what she'd want most of all is for us to be happy. So, Tifa, did you and Marlene have fun shopping yesterday?"

"Yeah! Maybe one of these day we can get Marlene to run-way for you," Tifa teased.

"That _would_ be something. Well, I hate to be a party-pooper, but I am zonked. Marlene, whaddaya say we go home and catch up on some beauty sleep eh?" He asked with a wink. Marlene giggled.

"Okay—but may I go outside for a little while?" She asked, fingering the strap of her brown knapsack under her seat. Barret laughed quietly.

"Man you're becoming a regular creature of the night aren't ya?" He joked, "Okay, but you know the drill. Inside by eight-thirty."

"By Tifa, bye Cloud," She said, delivering them each hugs.

"See you tomorrow!"

"Good night Marlene," Cloud waved.

"Sleep well. And congratulations Barret." Tifa said again.

"Thanks for the party ya'll!"

And the Wallaces' left Seventh Heaven.

**XxXxXx**

_Creature of the night_. Daddy's words stuck with her as she dutifully plodded down the trail to her forest place. She liked the sound of it. Daddy had meant the term casually enough, she knew, but she also knew he had no idea what she did every night.

_Night Creature_. How fitting. Beyond human—some glorious warrior, heading for the dragon's lair, or the demon's den or the monster's cave. Unearthly and . . . well . . . magical. Strengthening in the promise of a bright and clear full moon. A full, full moon.

Hastening to her clearing, she took out her beloved book, running her hand over the bright Materia, and flipped to a page marked '_Time_'. What a novelty! To change time. A spell called 'Clock Slow' caught her eye. Shrugging her shoulders, she couldn't find any obstacles that would occur because of it. She took a deep breath, watching cold mist exhale from her mouth.

"Sirocnav!"

Marlene gazed on in delight at what happened next. She watched the world slowly slow down to a crawl. The leaf that had been cruising across the frosty ground was now going at a fraction at its original pace—lazily turning over and over. Marlene found it took a long time to even move her gaze to something else. Turning her head took a full minute and she didn't want to think about how long it would take her to walk to the other side of the clearing.

Slowly, ever so slowly, her eyes turned back to the book she was still holding. Spotting a 'Clock-_Speed_' spell, it was very frustrating trying to get her lips and tongue moving faster than they could go.

"Ahhh . . . keee . . . tooo . . ." her voice had been slowed to a low rumble. But as she had hoped, things quickly changed. The leaf skittered madly across the clearing. Branches swayed as if dancing. Marlene reached up to brush her hair out of her face, but ended up whacking herself in the eye. Walking a few steps, she fell flat on her face as stopped too quickly. Her vision couldn't focus on one place long enough and it was making her head hurt.

Marlene panicked. This was a little bit too fast. As steady as she could, she awkwardly crawled in fast motion to her book which she had placed on the ground. '_Custom-Clock_'. Now _that's _what she needed! She barely had a chance to see the word before she blurted it out, but as time slowed to its regular pace, she saw it had been 'Nahlarney'.

Marlene glanced at the black watch Barret had let her borrow and let out a cry of surprise as it read eight-twenty! Rolling her eyes, she packed up her book, reminding herself to add 'Clock Change' spells to her list of what _not_ to cast. She couldn't have been out in the forest for more than a half hour. Nevertheless, she unquestioningly headed back to her own house for the night, disappointed that she'd have to wait a whole other day to go back.

**XxXxXx**

**So talk to ya'll later! Please leave a review!**


	7. Chapter Six: Guardian Angel

**Disclaimer: I do not own Square Enix, or any of the Final Fantasy stories or characters. The plot is my own and the inspiration and title belongs to Kamelot. Long live Thomas Youngblood.**

**Thank you readers and reviewers.**

Six: Guardian Angel

"Hey, wake up Marlie, it's seven-thirty—I gotta go to work, you ready to go to Seventh Heaven?" Marlene faintly heard her father's deep voice nudge her out of her dreams. She smiled, too comfortable to move out of her warm and fluffy blankets. "You gotta hurry though Marlene." She didn't move an inch. "Okay, I get the gist," Barret grumbled, scooping Marlene up with his good arm, letting her rest against his dark, broad shoulders. "Let's get you to Tifa now, kay?" He gave her a reassuring squeeze and headed for the door.

"Okay," she mumbled sleepily, before remembering, "wait—my bag . . . it's right in the nightstand cupboard . . ." Barret reached down and grabbed the leather knapsack for her. "Tifa says you'll be home by six."

"That's right," he said pleased, delivering the knapsack into the child'. "_Man_ it's cold out here," Barret shivered, restraining from use of harsher language as they left the house. "Tifa? You up?" Barret called softly from the screen door. Within moments a bleary-eyed Tifa appeared at the door, clad in a white tank top and baggy white bottoms.

"Hi Barret," she smiled weakly, "sorry I just got up. Have a good day at work! See you around six?"

"No problem, yeah, see you then. I better get going. Hey Marlene, here we are."

"Barret—just barely caught you!" Cloud was fully dressed and very awake as he stepped up beside Tifa in the doorway.

"'Ey Cloud." Barret greeted. "I gotta go. See you all later. Hey Marlene, it's time. I'll see you around six, okay?" Cloud was glad to oblige. Barret handed her off to him, offered a wave and was gone.

"Well what's gotten into you?" Cloud asked Marlene lightly, who was now asleep on his shoulder. "Isn't she always exceedingly perky in the mornings?" Cloud asked quietly, as not to wake her. Tifa nodded.

"Huh. Wonder what's got her tired out."

"It's probably her new found play-time." Tifa guessed.

"I wonder what she does," Cloud mused, "you should ask her about that sometime." He gently placed her on the couch, covering her with a blanket.

"Maybe I will, this is a first for her," Tifa said.

"Need any help with anything? What exactly is it you do in the mornings?" Cloud asked.

"Well, we could make breakfast," Tifa chuckled, "Lord knows it's the only thing that will keep Marlene quiet in the mornings."

"Sounds like a plan."

**XxXxXx**

"Marlene, it's nine o' clock—we've got breakfast on the table," Tifa gently woke the sleeping girl. This time Marlene woke quickly and alert.

"Okay—I'll get dressed real quick."

"Good idea," Tifa advised. It took Marlene all of two minutes to change into some day clothes before she was at the table, eagerly inhaling hot potatoes, fruit, and small pancakes.

"You were different this morning—I don't know if I've ever seen you so tired before." Tifa said, glancing quickly at Marlene before sitting down across from Marlene. "And party planning isn't _so_ hard," she paused, "so what is it that's tiring you out?"

"What do you mean?" Marlene asked, not quite defensively, but close to it. Tifa shrugged.

"I don't know. You spend a lot of time alone outside lately, what is it you've been doing out there?"

"Well," Marlene looked past Tifa, thinking hard, "I have a book I read," she said slowly.

"At night?" Tifa protested. "You could hurt your eyes by reading in the dark."

"But there's light too," Marlene added quietly. And they didn't talk about it anymore.

**XxXxXx**

Marlene spent a good part of the afternoon pouring through her book. After careful scrutinizing, she decided she didn't know what a few key words meant and that she should ask Cloud once he got home. Words like 'alignment' and 'metamorphosis' and 'necromancy'. How could she become a professional spell-caster when she didn't know what half of them meant?

**XxXxXx**

By five-thirty Cloud was home and settled in his room. Marlene had made sure he had gotten lots of time to talk with Tifa and that he had his bi-daily energy drink. She made her way up the stairs where all the bedrooms were. When she got to Cloud's closed door, she rapped on it softly three times.

"Cloud, may I come in?" She asked politely.

"Yeah—sure, com on in." She opened up the door and stepped inside. Unlike Tifa's immaculate room, Cloud's room was always littered with papers, weapons, holsters, packages to deliver, and other miscellaneous items. When Marlene had asked about the difference, Tifa had laughed and said that all boys had messy rooms, which added up because when Denzel lived with them, whenever Tifa went in there she said it looked like a tornado had gone through it. Cloud had a low, metal, army-style bunk, a walk in closet and two desks; one with a computer on it, and another with a swivel lamp on that he could write on. There was a couch next to the wall too, that everyone _but _Cloud had sat or slept on. His room was somewhat plain, but when Marlene offered him one of her many animal and doll posters, he smiled and said thanks, but not to worry. He'd survive without them somehow.

"What's up Marlene?" Cloud was sitting in his spin-chair at his computer desk so he simply swiveled to face her. Marlene plopped down on the couch across from his bed.

"Oh nothing," she lied. "Whatcha doin'?" She asked. Cloud raised his eyebrows.

"Well, I _could_ explain to you the secrets of a high-quality, intellect-stimulating, and all around classy computer game called 'Kolumz', but the complexity might overwhelm you," he said, cracking a smile.

"_Right_," Marlene smiled, rolling her eyes good naturedly. "Hey Cloud, what do you call someone who casts magick spells and stuff?" She knew it was risky, but she had to work her way up to her question.

"You mean like a sorcerer or sorceress?" Cloud asked, tilting his head to the side.

"Is that it?" Marlene mused.

"Sure—or witches and wizards . . . enchanters . . . illusionist, magicians, Materists (A/N—I completely copyright that word . . . unless someone already has), there are a bunch of different names for 'em."

"Oh." Marlene responded. "Do you know any?" She asked.

"Well Yuffie is a bona fide materist—but other than that . . . I've run into spell-casters and I've cast some spells myself, but I don't know if I'd call those people wizards. And spells sure aren't _my_ forte. I suppose it takes a practiced person to give themselves one of those titles."

"In all the stories, witches and sorcerers are evil. Are they all evil in real life?" She asked, soaking up Cloud's answers.

"Well no!" Cloud exclaimed. "It all depends on what you do with the spells. Or swords, or Materia, or guns. Weapons, when used for good, destroy, but they destroy to heal, in the end. It's all complicating." She liked that explanation. It reminded her of her 'dark-light' sticky note. "You're right though. Names like 'witch' and 'sorcerer' _do_ sound sinister. I guess that's where terms like 'Enchanters, or Enchantresses and 'Magicians' come in."

Marlene the Enchantress. It didn't sound half bad. It was time for the next question.

"Do you believe in Angels?" Marlene asked. Cloud smiled.

"Of course I do. I don't know how literally, but I know they exist. I used to think that angels were just . . . always there. But now I don't think that anymore. I think new angels are created all the time—when people return to the Lifestream."

"Like Aeris?" Marlene asked, quietly. Cloud was quiet and swallowed.

"Yeah, Marlene, like Aeris." There was sereneness to his pure blue eyes. They drifted far beyond the room as he continued to speak, and Marlene hung onto his every word. "You know Marlene, I guess in a big way she _is_ our guardian angel. I like to think that watches over us, that when I talk to her, she listens. Like she didn't just 'die'. But that she was so much better than the rest of us—so she just had to go to another place. A better place. With a better church that deserves her and isn't broken down and made of wood. She wouldn't have just an ordinary church, she'd have something spectacular, like a _temple_, and it'd be made out of pure gold. And there would be so many flowers in her temple of gold that it _would _look like an angel in Heaven. Sometimes her presence…it's so strong I feel like taking my bike to go look for it. For real. Did you know that I never once had to water those flowers in the church? Not once since she left us I had to do anything to them. For the past two years not _one_ has wilted or faded or was overgrown with weeds. It's like _someone_ is tending those flowers, or they live on, in her memory." His eyes, which had been distant, slowly traveled back to Midgar, back to the room.

"Do—"Marlene swallowed hard, "do you promise—if you ever _do_ go to try to find them, the temples, you'll take me too?" She asked earnestly. Cloud looked into her sincere eyes and smiled, deciding to humor her. He didn't really know what he felt anymore. He didn't even know if what he had just said made any logical sense in the world.

"Yeah, I will." He cleared his throat and blinked a few times.

"If you can believe in angels, do you believe in demons?" Marlene asked. Cloud was taken aback.

"Where are all _these_ questions coming from? Have you been raiding through my movies again? I'm telling you Marlene—they're too scary and you'll get bad—"

"—No, it's nothing like that," she interrupted. "I've just been thinking. That's all. But do you?" She asked again.

"Well that's some pretty deep thinking for a kid your age," Cloud grunted. "But then again, you haven't exactly had a normal upbringing." He grinned. "Demons . . . I guess I believe in 'figurative' demons. The kind that represents the bad secrets you have, and bad things you've done. The things you struggle with in daily life. But I guess you could call that Human Nature. If that answers your question."

"Any more topics of the supernatural?" He asked, with a teasing tone.

"Just words," she smiled, "what does 'alignment ', 'metamorphoses, and 'necromancy mean?" She asked, trying to speak the words casually. It didn't work because Cloud narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

"Where did you hear _those_ words?" He asked. Marlene shrugged.

"In a book," she said off-handedly. Cloud consented.

"Mmhmm, right. Well, 'alignment' means the side you're on. Sort of like what we were just talking about. You're alignment could be good or evil, or any stances people take," he answered. "Metamorphosis," he continued, "means 'change'. Caterpillars go through a metamorphosis and become butterflies. Kids go through one and come out adults. Shape-shifters morph into other forms. And don't tell Tifa that I'm answering this one, but 'Necromancy' is magic that deals mostly with the dead and recreating their life, or _draining_ life from the living. Basically, it's negative-life magic."

"Negative life?" Marlene questioned.

"Yep—whoa—you're Dad's back—we better get to dinner. It was good talking to you though. Haven't done that in awhile, Mar." Cloud smiled, giving her brown hair a slight ruffle as he stood up. "Now let's go see your Dad."

**XxXxXx**

That evening, Marlene was happy to get an early start. Dinner hadn't taken long, and her father—who'd had a good second-first day on the job—was tired, and wanted to head back early.

Once again she found herself abandoning the cares and trouble of Seventh Heaven and her home with Daddy. She forgot her quiet and naïve 'Day-Self' to become a Creature of the Night. To become an Enchantress.

A vague idea had slunk into her head craftily while Cloud and her were talking, but it was very, _very_ vague, and even with as much confidence as she had gained from the book, she was scared to think about the idea for too long. Because if she did, she just might follow through with it. Besides, she had to remember the rule: _Only the weak will obey the Master_.

And the very vague idea that she _wasn't _thinking about, was very, _very_ strong. So she decided she would just have to wait.

**XxXxXx**

**Hahaha! Cliff hanger for you! I think I'll wait a few to post the next section of the story--there's still a bunch left to go. So I'll give it a rest here, maybe collect some reviews, you know. Happy holidays for all! Oooh! Guess what! So for some reason I connected the Chronicles with the Christmas song 'We Three Kings' and not just 'cause of the SHM. For some reason it just stuck. And lo and behold ( I did NOT know this) Kamelot actually DOES a version of We Three Kings! Coincidental? I think not. Also, I'm obsessed with Neil Gaiman, and he was a lot of inspiration for this. Again, I did not know this. He wrote a series or book or something called 'Creatures of the Night' which I have yet to read, but it's at the top of my to-do list. Isn't that insane?!?! Lol, the fates are on my side!**


	8. Chapter Seven: Marlene? Abnormal?

**Hey everybody, thanks for the comments and favorites. Um, here's chapter seven where things start to become a bit more pronounced with the plot, I know it took awhile and it had a slow beginning, and I'm really sorry about that. I know I've got to work on my leadup more. Oh well. Here we go.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything at this point except for the plot.**

Seven: Marlene? Abnormal?

"Tifa, did you ever figure out what Marlene has been up to lately?" Cloud asked that night as Tifa sat in her comfy chair in her room reading a book. Cloud had planted himself on a small stool, flipping through orders, receipts, and addresses.

"Well, she told me she read her books out there," Tifa said uncertainly, looking to meet his eyes. "But I hardly believe she runs out there every night _just _to read."

"I guess it makes enough sense," Cloud said, reflecting back on his and Marlene's previous conversation.

"I would like to know what _exactly_ it is she's doing out there though. I don't know how healthy it is for a little girl to spend so much time alone at night. I mean, I know no one's out there . . . but still." Cloud was less concerned.

"I know you were just telling me this just the other day, but you were right—she's a six-year-old. What could she possible be doing that's so abnormal?"

**XxXxXx**

"Bralinite"

A fist-sized rock rose to Marlene's will as she cast a telekinetic spell. Meaning that she could move small things with her mind by directing them with her eyes. It was pretty amazing, really. But it _did_ take a lot of concentration to lift even small things. If she wasn't thinking intently about every square millimeter it would start to drop. She mentally threw the rock between two trees that were relatively close together. It sailed through, landing with a thud on the ground. Marlene was pleased with her aim.

Twigs and leaves were too easy, but when she tried lifting more than one thing, her concentration broke and they all dropped to the ground after only being a few inches in the air.

She levitated her knapsack and slipped her arms through the straps. Then she had a thought. What if she could levitate _herself_? She took off her knapsack and unlaced her converse shoes, trying to shed all the extra weight she could.

Since she couldn't directly see herself, she closed her eyes and focused in on her reflection. She only hoped she could handle the weight. She only weighed about 40 pounds, but 40 pounds was a lot more than the one and a half pounds that the rock weighed. She made that image behind her closed eyelids float up, and gave a cry of delight as she rose three feet from the ground. Pushing herself further, she lifted to four feet. And then five.

By the time she was dangling, eight feet in the air, she realized she had a slight problem. How would she safely get down without dropping like . . . well like a rock? She opened her eyes, keeping the image in her mind, and immediately dropped a foot. She shrieked, but quickly shut her eyes and concentrated again on the image, realizing that her small frame would most likely crumble if she hit the ground at the same speed the rock did.

Slowly, she braced her toes for impact as she willed herself down foot by foot. The jolt she felt as she was roughly sucked down left her semi-queasy, but she continued until she was only a foot above the ground, and then, dropping her concentration all at once, she jumped to the ground, unharmed.

"Whoa," she muttered to herself as she caught her balance, steadying herself. Maybe she should stay a bit closer to the ground. But she did it! It worked! She tried again, only levitating the original three feet off the ground, and tried to move forward. She did, but with a rush, her face rushed toward the ground and it was like she was lying down in the air. Well that was just great. She was pretty much stuck in the air. She moved her arms out, bent at the elbows, and released her concentration so that when she hit the ground, she landed on her arms first.

Well it was useful, but would obviously take a _lot_ more practice and experience. Maybe she would tell Yuffie about her situation and collect some tips. She reached for her book and skimmed through, looking for a harmless spell. In the Common-Use section, she found a spell simply called 'Silence'. Narrowing her eyes, she warily spoke the word.

"Wequier."

Nothing happened.

She _tried_ to say, "Well that was a waste," but found that even though she felt herself say the words, no sound came out. Realizing that the Silence spell made _her_ silent instead of her surroundings, she tried shouting as loud as she could.

Absolutely nothing.

She decided that it could probably come in handy at times, but it really was no fun being a genuine mute. She panicked though, how would she cancel the spell? Who knew how long it would take for it to wear off, and she had school the day after next. Tifa and Cloud and Daddy wouldn't understand why she wasn't talking and they'd probably find out. She glanced at her watch. It was only eight. She had a good fifteen minutes to kill.

In the end she decided to pack up early (she realized she made absolutely no noise while doing so. She even _moved_ silently!) and go home with Daddy since she couldn't cast anymore spells. She could only hope that she could slip in quietly and go straight to bed without having to talk (or not) to her father.

**XxXxXx**

When she reached the door to her house, she hesitated at first, but opened the door. To her horror, Daddy was sitting right in the living room with graphing paper, sketching what she guessed to be the new design for the complex.

"Oh heya Marlene. You in for the night?" He asked, looking up from his sketch. Marlene nodded and smiled, hoping desperately the spell would wear off within the next thirty seconds. "Okay, well um, it's almost your bed time, do you need anything?" He asked. She smiled some more and shook her head. "Okay . . . you're not sick or anything, are you? You're not getting a sore throat or anything, right?" At first Marlene would've jumped at this story, but then realized her coughing would be silent as well. So she shook her head 'no', fervently.

"So this is probably some phase kids go through," he muttered quietly to himself. "I get it. Okay, it's all good. Well, see you tomorrow Marlene. I promise this is the last weekend I'm working, alright?"

She nodded, smiled, gave him a goodnight hug and headed for her room.

"Night Marlie. Humph. Kids."

**XxXxXx**

**So, on to chapter eight! Please review! And to let everyone know, Kadaj makes his appearance in chapter 11.**


	9. Chapter Eight: A Very Strong Idea

**So I figured since I'm two days late in updating I'd give ya'll two chapters (Omg I'm talking like Barret. Wow.). I hope you enjoy! Please read and review!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot at this point.**

Eight: A Very Strong Idea

"Hey Mar—wake up—it's time for work again," Barret said, shaking her awake. Marlene realized groggily that she had to get up or else the same thing would happen that happened the day before: Tifa would start asking more questions.

"Okay, I'm up," she said quickly, rolling over, and getting to her feet.

"Well at least you're talking today," he grunted. Marlene blushed; completely having forgotten about last night's spell and was very glad it had worn off during the night.

"Sorry Daddy," she mumbled to him, grabbing at her knapsack as she fumbled for her shoes. "I was trying to see how long I could go without talking, but it got boring," she lied, complaining.

"Ah—well I think I'll let you walk over by yourself. Daddy's running late okay? You say hi to Cloud and Tifa for me okay?" He kissed her forehead and escorted her to the door.

"Okay, bye Daddy," she yawned, stepping out into the chilly air, letting her feet crunch under the thin layer of frost on the ground. The early morning sky was as gray and lifeless as Marlene felt, trudging next door to Seventh Heaven.

She let herself in and wiped her feet on the welcome mat inside.

"Tifa?" She asked, squinting at the bright lights. "Cloud are you here?"

"I'm in here, Mar, Tifa's outside; she'll be back in soon. Hey, uh, don't most people go to church on Sundays?" She heard Cloud from the kitchen. She followed his voice to the kitchen where she watched him (rather clumsily) try to fry an egg.

"Yeah . . ." Marlene said slowly, taking a seat at the table.

"Well then how 'bout you and me take a trip down to Aeris's church, together?" He asked, turning to her.

"Okay!" Marlene liked the church about as much as her forest place, actually. Maybe the church had magic too. "Does Tifa know we're going?"

"We'll tell her. C'mon—get your coat," Cloud urged, hurrying her out the door. "We'll pick up some breakfast on the way."

"Hey Marlene, Cloud, where are you guys going?" Tifa asked, approaching the doorway wearing green garden gloves.

"I thought I'd take Marlene out to the church . . . that okay?" Cloud asked, strapping on his goggles.

"Um, yeah, I guess so," Tifa said hesitantly before managing a weak smile, "have fun."

"You too Tifa!" Marlene called, waving at her as they left the house.

"Here, take this." Cloud ordered, handing Marlene a heavy metal helmet as they came to the wide gravel area where the cars and bikes were parked. "We're taking the bike." Cloud slung his leg over the clunky, yet efficient contraption and held out a gloved hand. Marlene hopped onto the same seat in front of him, trusting that Cloud would keep his arm around her throughout the trip.

Cloud jammed a key into the ignition, the bike starting up with a loud rumble. He revved it a few times, and off they sped toward the fifteen-minute ride to Aeris's church.

**XxXxXx**

The multi-colored, delicately-shaped flowers swayed in the breeze. No frost dared touch them within the hallowed sacred of Aeris's church. Instead, spare sunlight peeped in between wooden beams, stained-glass windows, and shaft—giving a golden tint and reflected off the hundreds of blossoms.

They stood quietly, in their remembrance of their friend.

"Cloud, Tifa said that even when someone you love dies, you should keep on living. But how? _Why_?" Marlene asked after a few minutes. Cloud was quiet.

"I have no answers for you Marlene. Sometimes I don't know why I let myself live. To me, the ones you love make life. Why should we go on if they're dead?" Cloud asked despondently.

Something in Marlene snapped when she heard him say that. What did _he mean_? If that was how Cloud thought, and those loved ones _were_ dead, what would stop Cloud from doing something terrible?

She was agonizingly afraid of suicide—as she had learned not long ago how her own biological father had died. Her father had done that to himself _because_ he lost his wife—her mother—and then Marlene herself, though she couldn't have known better.

If Cloud was really that sad, and he wasn't exactly kidding around when he had said that a minute ago, Avalanche family would crumble. Losing Aeris, they were barely coping as it was. Losing Cloud would lose them all. And Cloud wouldn't only be killing himself; he'd be killing Marlene as much as Tifa and Daddy.

The really frightening thing was that Marlene could picture all of it. Cloud's emotional irrationality taking over. Killing himself, or leaving—never to come back. Avalanche slowly disintegrating, starting with Tifa and ending with Cid or Vincent.

Marlene felt a sweat break on her forehead—her face grew hot and she flushed—forcing herself to will back tears. She swallowed, and swallowed again, shaking.

"Cloud?" She asked hoarsely, her voice a low shaking whisper, "What would you give for her to come back? If anything could be done—would you do it?" She asked. Cloud's once-smart, blue eyes were now dull and blank. She didn't see Cloud. She saw a remnant.

"I'd give anything and everything. In a heartbeat." He answered finally.

_Anything and everything_. His sword, his soul. Marlene. Tifa. Barret. _Anything and everything_.

Her mind scrambled for the vague idea she had buried in the depths of her thought life. There were no more doubts if Cloud had lost hope. It was time for her to turn that vague idea into the beginnings of a plan.

A plan to resurrect Aeris.

**XxXxXx**

Marlene was frantic the whole rest of the day to get out of the house. Barret got home around four; they had dinner at five and before it was even completely dark out, Marlene bolted for the door with her knapsack at five-thirty.

"Marlene I want you _inside_ tonight. I don't want you to be sick or tired for your first day back at school tomorrow. Okay?" Her Daddy's slightly distracted voice echoed from where he sat, reading the newspaper.

She stopped dead in her tracks, wanting to cry and scream and protest that she was really saving them all. She stood very still, facing the door, and Tifa watched concerned. Marlene's fingers twitched and clenched as she shut her eyes, trying to think of a way out. But she knew from experience that Daddy's word was law. There was no way around it.

Tears stung her eyes, though no one could see them. She had placed her security in her lucid moon and quiet clearing. Why would they take that away? Especially the day that she needed that security the most. She took a couple of deep, long breaths, remembering where she was, forced the tears from her eyes, and turned to Barret—his nose still in the paper. Cloud was finishing dinner and Tifa was intently concentrating on Marlene's reaction.

"Okay," she said softly, quietly. Tifa glanced at Cloud, but he hadn't noticed it. Marlene shivered violently, though it wasn't cold—inside at least.

"Whaddaya say you and I head home Marlene?" Daddy asked, setting aside the newspaper and stretching, slowly rising to his feet.

She couldn't answer—only nod as he stepped to the door next to her She opened it, and headed for home without looking back to say goodbye to Cloud and Tifa.

**XxXxXx**

She lay in her bed later that night, contemplating. She was no longer afraid of the late night—it really was her only time of day anymore—but feared the consequences of what might happen should she get caught sneaking out. No doubt she'd be promptly forbidden to go out at all, and besides she couldn't bear the thought of disappointing her family that way.

She mentally reran through her plan. Tomorrow evening she'd slip out, and run through all the necromancy spells she had. Study them. Figure out exactly what each spell would do, and find the one she needed. Then she's cast the spell, bringing Aeris back, if only for a little while, and fix everyone's problems.

A dreamy sleep fell upon her as her last thoughts were of now nice it would be to have Aeris with them again.

**XxXxXx**

"So what did Marlene and you talk about today?" Tifa asked Cloud that night—right before heading off for bed.

"A bunch of stuff," Cloud shrugged carefully, not wanting to arouse suspicion with Tifa, "why?" Tifa turned away.

"Well—I don't know. She's just been talking a lot about Aeris." She said guiltily. Cloud visibly stiffened.

"Is there anything _wrong_ with that?" He asked defensively. Tifa turned back.

"She . . . she's just starting to sound like you. That's all," she said softly.

"Is there anything _wrong_ with that?" Cloud asked again. Now Tifa looked him straight in the eye as she answered.

"There shouldn't be," she responded calmly, "_is_ there?"

**XxXxXx**

**So I'll update again next Monday. Kadaj makes appearance in chapter 11. Hope everybody can wait that long! In the meantime we'll do some catch-up with Denzel. Sound good?**


	10. Chapter Nine: Back To School Blues

Nine: Back To School Blues

Marlene awoke with a start as her trusty watch's alarm sounded at six o'clock the next morning. She sighed. A new day. She was glad she'd taken time to bathe the night before. She quickly rolled out of bed and padded over to her closet—exchanging her white ruffled nightgown for a knee-length pink skirt and dark blue clingy sweater. She combed, and braided her hair; then stepped from the hall into the kitchen to wait for breakfast with her father who was in the bathroom. A few minutes later he emerged and they proceeded in the consumption of 'Brightly Colored Sugar Junk', put away her dishes, and walked back into her room, grabbing her plastic yellow school backpack. She frowned after shrugging it on. It smelled fake and cheap, and felt slippery—she was used to the strong, rustic feel of the leather straps on her old knapsack, and preferred its earthy smell to the plastic.

No. This would never do. With a sigh, she unpacked her backpack and reached for her knapsack. She took out all the bare necessities—pencils, paper, and a Krazy Kreature coloring book—and packed them into her knapsack, knowing she wouldn't need much else. Besides. She couldn't leave her book alone in this cold lonely house all day!

Marlene stepped back into the large bathroom she shared with her father, and brushed and flossed her teeth. If there was one thing Tifa had been sure to drill into her, it was the importance of dental care and health. She washed her face, took a quick look in the mirror, and stepped once more into the kitchen. Ah the monotony of every day life . . .

"Oi Marlie," Barret greeted his daughter as she found him now at the kitchen table, making his own breakfast. "You all ready for school already?"

"Yep. I wanted an early start," Marlene stated matter-of-factly.

"What time do you have to be at school?" Barret asked with a frown, examining his own watch.

"Eight-thirty."

"Hehe, it's only seven. We've got an hour and a half to kill. Whaddaya wanna do?" He asked. Marlene shrugged.

"We could play 'Go Fish'," she suggested. Hey, she might be on her way to becoming a professional spell-caster, but she was still seven years old.

"Um . . . well . . . aw heck why not?" Barret muttered. "Bring it on."

**XxXxXx**

By eight-fifteen Marlene had 'won' seven games of Go Fish and the Wallaces' were on their way to Sector Seven Elementary.

When they arrived, Barret played the role of a chauffer and regally held the door open for Marlene. The playground was littered with children of all ages—giggling and shouting.

One of the student supervisors recognized Barret (he was kinda hard to forget) and waved. Barret, in return, did his best to crack a smile back. Before Avalanche became legends, Barret had been mistrusted—who wouldn't be? He had a triple gun instead of an arm!

But since Reunion, Barret, Cloud, and Tifa had been famous for saving Midgar—and the planet. Not to say that Marlene's supervisors and teachers didn't secretly posses an endeared curiosity regarding Marlene's home-life and envy that such a little girl would have more experience and adventure and sadness and stories than they, grown adults, could ever have.

"Hey," Barret cleared his throat, "inn't that your friend?" He asked. Marlene broke into a smile as her friend excitedly made his way over to them.

"Denzel!" Marlene cried, embracing the 10-year-old boy with soft, light-brown hair and deep green eyes.

"Hi Marlene! How was your break?" He asked. Barret checked his watch. "Hello Mr. Wallace," he said respectfully to the older man.

"Call me Barret," he responded with a grin, ruffling his hair, "I gotta run kids. Be good at school and Tifa will pick you up today, okay? I love you!

"Love you too!" Marlene waved as her father got back in the car and drove away.

"C'mon—over to the playground—we've got ten minutes. How've you been?" Denzel asked.

"Good," she paused. She had thought a lot about whether or not to share with Denzel about the book, Materia, and spells. He _was_ her best friend . . . but the spells were her private world and she didn't know if he would fully understand that. To that moment she hadn't made the decision on whether or not to tell him. "Well, I found a book with real magick words in it," she confessed carefully.

"Really? That's cool—we should read it sometime." Denzel said, his eyebrows rising.

_Loved ones make life. Why should we go on if they're dead?_

"Yeah, but we probably shouldn't tell Tifa. She'd think it's too dangerous or something. What'd _you_ do over break?" She asked in turn. Denzel wrinkled his nose.

"Not much. A lot of days I went to work with Reeve. He works in an office and it was all pretty boring. I went to a few movies, though. And I got a skateboard. Reeve says I'm getting pretty good at it. I miss Cloud and Tifa though. How _is_ Cloud anyway?" He inquired. Marlene felt a sudden drop in her stomach as she remembered.

"Not too good," she said nervously. Denzel sensed her anxiety and gave a small laugh.

"Cloud always pulls through Marlene. Don't worry." He said.

_But how much of himself does he spend each __**time**__ he pulls through?_ Marlene wondered. _How much of him is left?_ A loud, shrill bell broke their silence within the childish clamor.

"Well, time for class. See you at lunch?" Denzel affirmed. Marlene gave him a thumbs-up and hurried to her class.

**XxXxXx**

"Today we're going to talk about letters. Now I know all of you are _big_ boys and girls now that you're in first grade, and you know all the letters in the alphabet, but do you all the _sounds_ these letters make?"

Marlene tried not to roll her eyes as her 26-year-old teacher, Ms. Reid, chirped her way through Lesson One. She was nice enough, and pretty with short black hair and permanent smile, but she wondered how long Marlene could pretend she hadn't been through 'See Spot Run' four-hundred times. _All my demons cast a spell . . . what does __**that**__ mean? I don't have demons, do I? Is it like Cloud said? Are they inside me? I study spells when nobody's around . . . is __**that**__ my demon? I don't understand . . . _

What she really wanted to do was transfer into Denzel's class—fourth grade with Mr. Ridenour—because they learned fun things like about different kinds of monsters and such. _The weak will always obey the master . . ._

She'd made a few friends, but it was hard to connect with people on such a lower level. So she mostly stayed with Denzel—who had made more friends than her anyway.

Within a few minutes Ms. Reid had finished her brief explanation of the lesson, and was passing assignment paper back to the rows of small desks. Marlene sat in the middle of the row by the window, so after passing back papers, she glanced at the assignment: Match each letter with their vowel sound. _Joy_. She looked at the clock. Only 40 more minutes until lunch . . .

**XxXxXx**

"So you didn't have _anything_ to do for the rest of the class time?" Denzel asked as they made their single-file way through the lunch line that afternoon. Today's 'special' was '_Terrific Tuna Casserole'_, which, undoubtedly was often translated to '_Terrible Tuna Casserole_, or _'Traumatic Tuna Casserole'_. Marlene had always brought her own lunch to school back when she lived in Seventh Heaven, because Tifa had always had enough time to make them for her, but now that Daddy was home, they were both in a hurry so she just bought lunch at school now. It wasn't exactly an upgrade, but Daddy did a lot for her and she didn't complain.

"Nope. Just sat there 'til lunch," Marlene replied glumly.

"Why didn't you read a book?" He asked, holding out his plastic tray for an overweight lady wearing an apron and a greasy plastic hairnet to dump a ladleful of slop onto it.

Marlene wrinkled her nose distastefully at her food. "I already read them all. Those were boring."

"What about your spell book?" Why didn't you read that?" Denzel asked, as they sat down at a sparsely populated table.

"It's not really a reading book Denzel," Marlene said, lifting her eyebrows and studying her food. _All my demons cast a spell . . ._

"Well then what _do_ you do with it?" Denzel asked impatiently. Marlene flushed, embarrassed about what she was about to say.

"I don't know," she said quietly. And then she finished her lunch quickly. She had never, _ever_, lied to Denzel, her very _best_ friend, before in her life.

**XxXxXx**

"Tifa!" Denzel yelled, running to her as she stepped up warily to the school in search of Marlene.

"Denzel! How are you?" Her face broke into a smile as she returned the boy's bear-hug (wow kids grow fast) and planted a kiss on his head.

"I'm good Tifa—Marlene's on her way."

"Do you catch the bus? Because I could take you home," Tifa offered hopefully.

"That's okay. Reeve will be here in a few minutes," Denzel chirped.

"Oh. Okay." Tifa said, secretly disappointed. She mostly only saw Denzel once every few weekends and time like this after school.

"Hey Tifa! Time to go home?" Marlene emerged anxiously, from a sea of school children, carrying her odd leather bag on her shoulders.

"Yep," Tifa said.

"Okay, c'mon let's go!" Marlene grasped her hand and dragged Tifa to the car. "Bye Denzel! See you tomorrow!"

"What's the hurry?" Tifa asked puzzled. Usually Marlene took as much time as she could after school to talk to Denzel, even if that _did_ mean extra time away from the restaurant. Immediately after Tifa asked, Marlene visibly slowed.

"Nothing," she replied innocently. And they drove home quietly, despite Tifa's attempts at small-talk about her day.

**XxXxXx**

"Tifa, can I go outside tonight?" Marlene asked a few minutes after they got home. The sun shone brightly, though with a hint of chill in the air.

"It's not break anymore sweetie, I doubt your daddy will want you out late at night anymore." Tifa replied. Marlene caught her breath. Surely she couldn't mean _ever_!

"Could I go outside _now_?" Marlene asked. Tifa looked hesitant.

"Do you have any homework?" Tifa asked. Marlene shook her head.

"Nope. I did it all in class." She said truthfully, for once. She felt bad about lying all the time. _She felt . . . bad._

"Okay, well, I guess so. Just be in by dinner."

"Thank you Tifa!" And that girl was outside so fast Tifa barely caught her figure darting out the door with her leather sack. And Tifa was much too curious to find out what exactly it was Marlene did outside every day.

**XxXxXx**

**So. Like? Dislike? Love? Hate? Vey this is starting to sound like an abusive relationship! So please review!**


	11. Chapter Ten: Red Handed

Ten: Red-Handed

Marlene was out of breath by the time she had run the full distance to her clearing. She had been right about it. All the magic she knew it possessed was lost during the day. The garish light exposed every branch and reflected off of every angle of every _thing_. In a way, it brought her closer to her clearing though. It shared a secret with her. They knew what they were _really_ like in the night. Dark and mystical. They both hid their true identity by putting on a sunny face. It wasn't that Marlene wasn't a happy person either. But AVALANCHE didn't realize that just as they had been allowed to change and harden to their lifestyle, so had Marlene. She had known and seen. So. Much. And she was sure that if Tifa knew her circumstances, she wouldn't mind Marlene lying. Funny. AVALANCHE could save the planet but they couldn't save Cloud.

_Sometimes her presence is so strong . . . I feel like taking my bike to go look for it._

Marlene got right to work, the urgency of Cloud's situation weighing on her again. She sat down and took out her book amongst the blue, pink, and yellow Materia, flipping right to the restoration section, looking for the list of 'necro' spells.

Her elbow bumped something, and as she looked to her right, she was surprised to see a metal baton stuck in the cold ground. It was cold and silver. Examining it briefly, she noticed it reminded her of the weapon Cid sometimes used. She had an unsettling thought: had someone else _been_ here while she was gone? Who? _Why_?

She forced herself to concentrate on the book again, reasoning she'd consider her new theory _after_ Cloud's will to live had been revived.

'Animated Dead' . . . 'Ghoul's Touch' . . . 'Necromancy Oracle' . . . the last one might work. She at least knew what it meant. Perhaps an oracle devoted just to Necromancy could help her. She paused. Here? Now? It'd have to be.

She stood up and began the incantation.

"Sal—"

"_Marlene_!" She dropped her book mid-spell and whirled around to face a shocked Tifa. "Wh—what are you _doing_?!" Tifa asked with a quivering voice.

"I—it's just—my . . ." Marlene stuttered, speechless from surprise and dread at being caught.

"Do you know what these _are_?!" Tifa shrilled in a pitch Marlene hadn't realized was humanly possible to reach. She hung her head. There was no point in lying anymore. "These are powerful spells! Even one could kill you!" Tifa exclaimed, snatching the book off the ground. Her eyes widened as she saw the cover. "My book? Marlene you took my book?! And what's in here?" She took Marlene's bag and sighed as she saw the glowing Materia.

Tifa was unsure of how to respond. A million thoughts ran through her head. So _this_ was where Marlene ran off to every night. She had specifically told her to stay out of the basement and the Materia. Marlene had _hidden_ this from her. Some spells were evil and harmful. What to do, what to do. She wished Cloud was there.

"Okay," she started, drawing a deep breath, "why don't you start out by telling me what exactly you're doing out here." It was hard. Marlene was a six-year-old _child_, yet what she had done was secretive, calculating, deviant, and above all, dangerous. How on Earth should she punish her?

"Well," Marlene's voice was small and ashamed, "I saw the book all the way in the back of your bookshelf and I borrowed it. I knew I needed Materia so I took some from the basement. I'm sorry Tifa." She looked up at her mother-figure with big, pleading brown eyes.

Tifa sighed again, already knowing that she couldn't tell Barret—he had so much on his mind lately. "Why did you hide it from me? Why didn't you just _ask_ me about me book?" She warily asked.

"Because I was afraid you'd take it away and say it was too dangerous," Marlene mumbled, head low, digging her toe into the ground.

"Were you able to cast any spells?" The concept was still incredulous to Tifa: She was asking a _six-year-old_ this question! Marlene drew a breath. Just how much should she tell her?

"No," Marlene lied again, "I tried to. I couldn't figure it out." Relief flooded through Tifa in waves. Good.

"Well I'm glad you're not hurt. And I'm not gonna tell your daddy either, but _these_ are going with me. And you'll be doing a lot more dishes around Seventh Heaven too." At that instant, all traces of anger in Tifa's face melted into relief and she bent down to embrace her.

"Marlene I love you so much! I just don't want you to get hurt, okay?"

"Okay Tifa—I really am sorry. May I ask you something?" She asked, returning the hug.

"Yep," Tifa replied.

"Where _did_ you get that book anyway?" She asked, curiously. Tifa rolled her eyes.

"It belonged to my grandmother in Nibelhelm. She was a practiced sorceress. When I inherited it, even _I_ knew it was not a good idea to mess with it. I never used it once. Yuffie got some use out of it though, when she borrowed it a few years back, and then returned it. It hasn't been used since. Well except for _you_." She said. "Now let's get inside before we freeze to death out here."

**XxXxXx**

The next three days were the longest three days Marlene had ever known. True to her word, Tifa hadn't told Daddy _or_ Cloud about her theft, which was a very good thing, because them knowing might have prevented her from going through with her plan.

Cloud's work hours gradually got later and later, to the point where it was almost back to his original work schedule. He wouldn't talk much, rarely smile, and always, _always_, lapsed into a strange, internal, wistful silence whenever anything having to do with Aeris was brought up.

At school, Denzel and his new skateboard tricks won over many new friends and didn't talk to her as much at lunch, usually playing on the playground doing grates on the slide or something.

At Seventh Heaven, when Marlene wasn't working off her punishment for Tifa, she had absolutely nothing to do. None of her old toys interested her anymore, she always finished her homework at school, and the picture she had started of Cloud a couple of weeks before lay in a wrinkled pile of junk in the corner of her room, forgotten completely.

And even at home with Daddy, he was either busy with blueprints and diagrams, or was so pumped up with stories of his new job it entirely overshadowed anything remotely interesting Marlene said or did.

She had avoided the forest since Tifa had discovered the book and Materia, and she realized she missed the clearing itself more than the Materia and the spell-casting. The Materia in her wrist faded and ran out anyway—apparently drained from lack of use.

Marlene was unbearably lonely during those days, quiet and polite. She felt like crawling out of her skin, restless and at unease—all she wanted was to be a creature of the night again with unsaid power in the moonlight. Become an enchantress one more time.

It wasn't long before she got her chance.

The third day after her Materia was taken away, Marlene had quietly followed Tifa into her room. She saw Tifa unlock the second drawer on her dresser. Even from far away she saw the tiny, brilliant pinnacle of blue light shining from the Materia inside the drawer.

Marlene could only dare to assume that the book was in that drawer as well. But just for the fracture of a second she had seen the Materia, Tifa had shut the drawer again, locking it, and sticking the key into her purse.

Marlene feigned ignorance—that she hadn't seen a thing—when Tifa turned back around. She had a where, but no how or when. Surely Tifa would notice if her key was missing—she had to do it at a time that she could get her key back in her purse before she used it. Best time? Night. Marlene figured she was getting pretty good at this stuff.

But how? She stayed with her father every night now. She'd have to break _in_ to Seventh Heaven to get the key to unlock the drawer to get the Materia and book, sneak back _out_ of Seventh Heaven, go down to the clearing, and cast the Aeris-oracle spells, then go _back_ to Seventh Heaven, sneak in, put the book back, lock the drawer, put the key back in her wallet, sneak back out yet once more, and sneak into her own house and go to bed. Though she wasn't at all certain about the last few steps if Aeris _was_ able to come back to life. They'd probably have a lot to talk about before Marlene went home.

It was a plan. It was a sketchy, improbable, ludicrous, and all around _bad_ plan, but it was a plan nonetheless.

And it had to be carried out while Cloud still lived, while she still knew the location of the key, books, and Materia, and it had to be carried out while she not only remembered it all, but while she still had the guts to go through with it. It had to be done that night.

**XxXxXx**

**A/N: From here on out things are gonna get reeeeally interesting. Just take my word for it ;D.**


	12. Chapter Eleven: The Oracle

** So welcome to your first appearance, SHM, how does it feel? Lol, well enjoy. Prepare for some angst, but enjoy.**

Eleven: The Oracle

It was almost twelve o' clock that night at Daddy's house. Any other child her age should've been fast asleep. But Marlene was far from tired.

The moon was red that night, crimson and round. Marlene smiled, at peace with it. She had been watching it through her window since she had gone to bed.

For the past two and a half hours, Cloud's words to her echoed in her mind. Spurred on her courage. Made her sick to her stomach. _Why should we go on if they're dead?_

A damp sweat broke on her forehead and she trembled as she heard Cloud's empty voice speak over and over again.

Nerves were released in spasms through her stomach. Who would know how Daddy and Cloud but most of all _Tifa_ would react if they knew what she was about to do? She shivered, preferring to assume they wouldn't know until it worked.

Lucky for her, a great big tree with lots of branches grew right outside her room in Seventh Heaven. She had left the window in her room open so the plan was to get in to Seventh Heaven by the tree.

The rest was fairly self-explanatory—she just had to make sure she didn't wake up Tifa, who was a very light sleeper.

A quarter past eleven, her father's rhythmic snoring was her cue.

She wore quiet, dark blue, running pants and a black, close-fitting long-sleeved shirt to 'bed' instead of a white translucent nightgown. She sat up in bed and groped around on the floor for a pair of sneakers she had placed by her bed. After locating them, she yanked each one on the right foot and proceeded to tie the laces—_not_ an easy feat (no pun intended) in the dark. She couldn't risk turning on even a little desk lamp, but Tifa had found no reason to confiscate her Daddy's watch from her. And Marlene was glad for the faint green glow she attained when she pushed the right button.

She pulled on a dark sweat shirt and crept quietly out the open door of her room, into the hallway. There she stood for a minute, ready to lie if her father woke up.

When he didn't, she stole in the dark over to the front door. She took a breath. Swallowed. Felt sweat gather into her palm.

When she grasped the slippery doorknob, she hesitated only a moment before gazing out the window and gasping in wonder in the carmine shade of the moon, regaining strength and confidence as she took it in. She saw a night creature's face in that crimson moon.

Good.

She opened the door, shivering and accepting the icy breeze. She stepped out and swiftly closed the door. Her breath evaporated into cold steam, relieving the still, crystallized night air.

Leaving tracks in the thin, still-developing layer of glowing red frost on the ground, she scurried over to the Seventh Heaven Bar and Restaurant. It was big and looming and unwelcoming and red to her in the night. She had never seen Seventh Heaven like this before. Marlene ran over to the tree by her window, bracing herself to begin the climb.

Marlene was no amateur when it came to climbing this tree. She and Denzel used to make a game out of who could get into Marlene's room the fastest. She knew it up and down.

It was an extensive, smooth, Maple tree. From the bottom of the tree the branches spread out in all kinds of directions, making it very easy to climb. She stepped onto the first branch wincing at the cold branch on her bare hands and hoisted herself up. She climbed as quietly as she could. By the fourth branch she was very close. One more branch and she'd be able to reach her window. She grabbed at the higher branch, biting her lip and swinging up. She carefully repositioned herself so that she sat, legs dangling, a good thirty feet high, about six inches from her window.

She grunted, claiming a death-hold for her window still before swinging one leg inside, then the other. Finally she took a chance and let her leverage go to shambles—quickly ducking her head under the sill and tumbling quietly to her bed.

Phase one completed and successful.

She lay there, absolutely still for a moment or two, pleading mentally for Tifa or Cloud not to have heard her landing.

When nothing stirred or stemmed, she solemnly rose to her feet. She stole across her room, noiselessly twisted her doorknob, stepped out, and shut the door just as quietly.

Cloud's door was closed. Tifa's wasn't.

She snuck around the door, grateful for the quiet carpeted floor, and observed her surroundings. Tifa was asleep on her big red bed. She slept on her left side—facing Marlene, which was actually a good thing because her purse and dresser were on the opposite side. Marlene took a step. Two, three, until she had made her way past Tifa's line of closed vision.

Her little black purse sat temptingly smack right on the dresser. Naively unguarded. Poor purse . . . Marlene smiled and flicked on her little watch light. Her small area was alight with a dim green. Marlene unzipped her purse, making sure she made no noise.

Looking, looking, looking . . . Marlene carefully sifted through credit cards, debit cards, keys, gum, and key! She slid the copper skeleton key out of a narrow fold in her purse and clutched it tightly. She took a quick glance at Tifa—still sleeping.

Not daring to breathe, she slid the key into the keyhole of the bottom drawer, stifling the noise with her hand.

Coming up was the _real_ tricky part. Closing her eyes, heart pounding, she twisted the key in one strong move.

Three things happened then: One, the lock groaned such a loud, unearthly, mechanical sound that Marlene swore it would at least wake the dead. Subconsciously hearing the noise, Tifa rolled over. Marlene, sensing the movement, dropped to the ground, willing herself to stay quiet.

Tifa _still_ hadn't woken though. Marlene lay there a solid five minutes. When all seemed safe once again, she crawled to her knees and slowly, so slowly, she opened the drawer.

And was blinded momentarily by the light of the Materia.

She let out a breath of relief. Marlene had come _this_ far! Her leather bag was there too, and upon checking, she found the book inside.

Surely Tifa wouldn't notice one or two Materia, Marlene told herself as she delicately smuggled a couple into her leather bag.

She slung it over her shoulder as she had so many times before. She shut the drawer, without locking it, and placed the key back in Tifa's purse. She wouldn't need it.

She tip-toed out of Tifa's room and shut the door quietly. Padded back to her own room, shut the door behind her, climbed onto her bed, grasped for the window sill, and loped back onto the branches of her Maple tree. She scrambled down the tree and made a mad dash for the trail to her clearing.

Phase two completed and successful.

_I'd give anything and everything._

The blood-red moon cast an eerie glow on her familiar trees. Marlene rather liked it. It seemed somehow fitting for what she was about to do. She flung her bag to the ground, grabbing her book and a Materia.

Once again she pushed the Materia into her wrists and felt the comforting flood of power mixing with blood flowing through her thin veins. She knew what she had to do.

She flipped to the page where she found the Necro-Oracle spell and paused. She knew at last what the sticky note meant: _All my demons cast a spell . . ._ there was no denying it any longer.

"Salynes!"

Dark blue shocks of energy—like dark metallic-blue fireflies—grew and twinkled and magnetized to the air in front of Marlene as she felt the power flow from her wrist. The pixels of energy fit together—just like a puzzle—into a large, round, intricate tear drop with thin threads of blue pulsing through it and giving it texture and life. Like a dark fire dancing slowly in the red night.

A slow rhythmic wind blew past, encircling Marlene, and began to speak with her. It was ash and smelled of dark libraries.

"_What do you wish with one who wrote the laws of rising souls of dusk from ashes?_" Whispered the wind with a voice dry and spidery and thin and faint: The Oracle. Marlene closed her eyes, raptured in the wind and fire.

"I'm here because I have a question," she replied bravely.

"_And what is your question?_" Breathed the wind, quiet and unrevealing.

"Someone I love is dead. I need to bring her back to life. I don't know how. _Please_ tell me . . ." Even Marlene knew her plea sounded small and childlike.

"_You are quite young, even for a human . . . you may fail._" The Oracle told her.

"I need to do it," Marlene said simply.

"_Very well. If defying the Lifestream is your path . . ."_ The whisper trailed off into nothingness. "_Speak these words._"

_Aeris I need you_.

"_Elexa Haemen," _it started. _Cloud stay with us._

"Elexa Haemen," Marlene repeated. _Come back to us. We need you so much._

"_Dhtem Dhtem,"_ The Oracle said next. _Let this work._

"Dhtem Dhtem," Marlene quoted. _I have to do this._

"_Elexa Haemen," _The Oracle finished, and the breeze began to drop.

"Elexa Haemen," Marlene said softly.

"_Your question is answered_," whispered the Oracle as the blue faded to blackness and disintegrated. Marlene muttered to herself.

"Elexa Haemen Dhtem Dhtem Elexa Haemen . . ." A little louder now, "Elexa Haemen Dhtem Dhtem Elexa Haemen." LOUDER. "Elexa Haemen Dhtem Dhtem Elexa Haemen!"

Power buckled out from under her and Marlene rose into the air, eyes flashing Materia.

Her wrists and hands were enveloped in blue and rose above her head.

She began to shudder and tremble involuntarily, violently.

She did not know that light was exploding from her like she was a lantern prism. A splinter of light hit her necklace and it shattered into a thousand directions.

Then came the pain. This was unlike she had ever known could exist. THIS pain was the definition of _all encompassing_.

First there was a searing, burning pain in her wrists where the Materia wrenched itself from her palms. The second was the She felt a thousand splinters of glass crawling out of her throat as she gasped, knowing she was dying. Ice and fire blended into a torturous sense, wracking the child's body with pure undefined pain. She burned from the inside out and yet it was her core froze solid.

She didn't know anything else.

No thought, no sound, no sight.

Only feeling.

Only dying.

Marlene slammed into the ground, twitching.

Breathless.

Time's essence mattered nothing.

Life was sucked from her body by the gallon and swallowed by a thirsty Death.

Marlene didn't have a choice but to succumb to the blackness. It owned her.

She found herself obliterated.

**XxXxXx**

Loz couldn't watch. He knew that look. That position. That stance. They had done that to him before. He couldn't watch it again. Kadaj was stronger. Kadaj was already on his feet running to her.

"Yazoo," he spoke. "It's time to come out now."

"Finally." His brother spoke, a grim look in his eye. Yazoo hadn't wanted to watch either. Kadaj smiled.

"She remind me of us, brothers."

**XxXxXx**

**What happens next? Stay tuned. Unless you've looked up the song lyrics. Then you might have a clue.**


	13. Chapter Twelve: Silver Voices

**Okay, here we go again. Thanks to all my reviewers, including AthenaChrome, IceRi, Lt. Commander Richie, Overlord Xavier ( --for sticking with me for so long while I finally stick the SHM in here ), labyrinth traveler, yaoi gypsie, Yazoo IS Superior, and D-double E! No joke you guys inspire me to write this thing! Thanks again!**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Loz he'd have longer hair. Does that say anything?**

Twelve: Silver Voices

"Will she be alright brother?" Asked a voice that lingered hesitantly in the air. Marlene's conscience slowly awoke to a red night and silver, melodic voices. She lay, eyes still closed, unable to comprehend what was happening or how she was functioning.

"I hope so. If we lose our first patient, surely we will be sent back to the Lifestream." A second voice answered. Eyes closed, her mind flashed to an image of the Oracle and...and then pain. She had _never_ felt such pain before. She knew, even with her groggy state of mind that she _would_ not ever be the same. It was then that she learned that pain changes things. People. Her.

Lying still, she felt a cold, light, hand on her ribcage. The touch activated a spasm of pain and her eyes flew open. She was still in her familiar clearing, and whimpering. She _hurt_.

And then there was more than pain. They were back. How easily she had dismissed the men standing over her now. She knew these men. These, _silver-haired men_, who: kidnapped Denzel. Fought Tifa. Kidnapped herself. Tried to kill Cloud. Brought back the man who killed Aeris. Sent their city spinning into the chaos it was just now recuperating from. Lastly, they had been killed themselves. All three of them.

The one she remembered most was the very tall and very strong one with pointed facial features, short spiked silver hair and permanent sneer. He had a big fight with Tifa and when she was unconscious, he kidnapped Marlene. She hadn't liked his touch. It was rough and unsettling. He had taken her to their hideout—the whole way there he had tried to convince her that Jenova was a _good_ thing! He wore what the rest wore—black leather pants and a black leather zip-up sweater.

The second was quiet and lithe. He had a slender, feline-like build and could've been a ballet dancer if he had wanted to (A/N—now don't we all want to see Yazoo in a tutu doing plies?). His long, dancing silver hair reached his waist. In short, he _was_ grace. He spoke seldom, with a light strange voice. His eyes were sea green and narrow. Like a cat's.

The third, the one facing her now, was the leader of the three. A combination of his younger brothers, _the third_ had lean muscles that flexed and flowed to his will_. The third_ had layered chin-length silver hair with perfect soft features. His marble green eyes were the reality of his seemingly surreal face. They were deep, soft, shimmering green portals that were not afraid to look anyone in the eye. His broad shoulders and narrow hips were perfectly proportionate, and his voice was young and spiteful, at least back during Reunion. This was the man who had changed into Sephiroth.

They all looked the same as they had before, except their faces. She no longer saw a smirk on her kidnapper's face, or bitterness on _the third's_. She saw only childlike curiosity and an addiction to the Red Night and silver moon, much akin to her own. These men, she knew upon glance, were creatures of the night.

And she didn't understand it.

She only could comprehend that these were bad people and that she had to get away from them.

She twisted and lunged at the opposite direction behind her, but cried out when both a burning sear and dull ache attacked her ribcage. She lay on the ground, clutching her throbbing ribcage, trembling with fear, looking directly at three of her family's worst enemies.

There was no way out.

"She thinks we will hurt her," the long-haired one understood. The Leader tilted his head inquisitively.

"We won't hurt you," he said politely.

"I recognize her, brother! I took her to our hide-out when we were trying to lure big bro—er, Cloud—to the Forgotten City!" The tall one observed.

"No wonder she fears us!" The long-haired one scolded gently, "You never apologized did you?" Muscles looked sheepish. He got down on one knee next to her, put his right hand on his heart, and began.

"I am deeply and sincerely sorry for kidnapping you. And fighting your friends. And trying to convince you Jenova was good. I should never have done those things and can only beg your forgiveness." It was much too much for Marlene to grasp.

"You—you're dead!" She exclaimed, a short moan following as she held her fingers pressed tight against her rib cage. The Leader looked hurt for a moment at her statement, but soon brightened.

"We used to be, but we aren't anymore." He said. "What's your name? We were hoping no one would find us here."

"Are you going to kill me?" Marlene whimpered. Muscles sat cross-legged on the ground next to her. The Leader looked appalled.

"Never! I was trying to heal you before you woke up. At least I succeeded in bringing _you_ back to life before it was too late."

"I . . . I was dead?" Marlene asked confused. The idea was too big to comprehend.

"Well, not quite,"_ the third_ admitted, "but very close."

"You saved me?" Marlene whispered. Color rose to the boy's cheeks and he nodded. "_Why_?"

"It's why we were sent back." Long hair replied simply, crossing his arms.

"Sent back from Lifestream? To save _me_? That can _happen_?" She asked.

"Well, to save lots and lots of people. That's the condition after all." Muscle said.

"So you were sent back by someone," Marlene said slowly, "_who on Earth would send you back_?" Then came the anvil that plunged into her stomach. _I did. I sent them back. It was a mistake. I meant to raise, Aeris, instead . . . I've ended the world again_.

"Not Earth," _the third_ said, "Aeris." He spoke the word dreamily. And then he hastily dug out a gold medallion from his inside leather pocket. "She said to show this to people who don't believe us." Marlene frowned and took the medallion from _the third_, scrutinizing it carefully. A delicate 'A' was engraved along with a rose—one of Aeris's favorite flowers. The medallion was cold and smooth and sterile in her left hand—the one she spared to receive the object. It was Aeris's all right. But how?

"You know Aeris?" Was all Marlene was able to stammer. The sliver-haired men nodded solemnly. "But you were bad people . . ." she whispered, feeling shocking numbness over comer her. _The third_ advanced; deliberately. Slowly. He knelt down, caught her glance in those liquid turquoise eyes, and skittered a slim hand over her injured ribcage. He closed his eyes, took a long breath, and let it out just as deeply.

The pain lifted.

"I don't understand," she murmured, before allowing the vastness of the situation overwhelm her—letting herself drift far away.

**XxXxXx**

"What shall we do with her Kadaj?" Yazoo asked, as the child slept on the icy ground. Kadaj sighed and Loz glanced uneasily to and from his older brothers.

"You put her things back—I'll take the girl. Did she come from Heaven?" He asked, jutting a chin to Tifa's Bar and Restaurant.

"No," murmured Yazoo, studying her face. "She came from her father's."

"Then I will take her back there," Kadaj said. "Loz—lookout?"

"Alright," he grumbled, " but why must I be the lookout again?" He asked. Yazoo laughed.

"You are not so quiet, little brother," he teased, scooping up the girl's book and pack of Materia.

"We will meet back here tonight," Kadaj ordered, "we may have to move from our clearing now." Loz looked disappointed.

"I like it here," he said wistfully. "It's a good place to play."

**XxXxXx**

Kadaj walked soundlessly back to the girl's father's house, child in his arms. Her breathing was light and unsteady. He worried for her.

A long time ago he came to the conclusion that most people looked younger when they were asleep. Well, at least Loz and Yazoo did. But not this tiny thing in his arms. Worry lines creased usually smooth skin, her brows were automatically furrowed, and her face was unnaturally pale. He worried he'd made her sick. What would Aeris think then?

Without having to be careful, he quietly entered through the front door, grimacing at the obnoxious noise of her father's breathing.

He found her bedroom, assuming it was the one with the big ballerina frame, and placed her carefully back in her own bed, slipping her slight and shaped feet out of her pink sneakers.

He then frowned. Her clothes were all wet. Without waking her, he gently tugged her dark sweater over her head, and placed it neatly on her bed.

What to do, what to do . . .

Kadaj noticed a white nightgown strewn across her desk chair.

He sat the child up and stripped her of her shirt, recoiling at first at the warmth of her skin despite the cold still clinging to her. He had been alive for only a week or so and was still in awe at how much heat radiated from the human body. He slipped the nightgown over her head and legs and removed and folded her running pants.

Finally he tucked her back into bed, satisfied, and slipped out of her window, landing deftly on the ground to go meet his brothers.

**XxXxXx**

"Her belongings have been placed back where she got them from," Yazoo reported as Kadaj made his way back through the forest.

"Are you _sure_ they're in the right place brother?" Loz questioned curiously arching an eyebrow. Yazoo's mouth was stone.

"_Dead_ sure." His Velvet Revolver lay against the big tree. Just in case.

"Okay . . ." Loz said hesitantly.

"What should we do with the girl?" Yazoo asked, swinging carelessly up into a thick tree trunk, dangling upside down—silver hair flowing like water—like a child on monkey bars.

"Well what do you mean?" Kadaj asked, furrowing his brow. Yes the circumstances were . . . surprising, but it had been taken care of, hadn't it?"

"Won't she tell her friends she has seen us alive? Won't they try to fight us? Shouldn't we leave?" _Ah, Yazoo, always the optimist_, Kadaj thought to himself. However his brother's doubts _weren't_ without cause. Kadaj didn't know very much about the girl—Loz had actually had the most contact with her out of the three—but Kadaj _did _know she had many dangerous friends. Friends that had tried to kill them in the past—grant it they had good reason to. Nevertheless, Kadaj wasn't going to hurt anybody and he knew his brothers felt the same. Loz stood tentatively by the tree—where Yazoo dangled from—quiet for once.

"What is her name, brother?" Yazoo asked in his floating, whimsical way. Loz's eyes flickered in remembrance.

"Marlene. Marlene Wallace." He said slowly. Yazoo flipped around on his branch and landed neatly on his feet. Kadaj, instead, hoisted himself into the tree and sat, thoughtfully.

"I do not see what difference it makes," Yazoo said, his voice slightly frustrated. "Someone would've found us sooner or later, wouldn't they? We knew that. And it's a good thing that it was that little girl. Anybody else would've killed us upon sight. And that would be it. No second chances for us."

"True," Kadaj agreed, "but if we run away and hide, then they'll just follow and find us."

"She'll come back." Loz said unexpectedly, uncrossing his arms and stepping up next to his older brothers, his face a strange carmine red when the moon shone on his white marble face. "She'll come back and she won't bring anybody. We don't need to worry. For now." He said decidedly. Kadaj narrowed his eyes at his fore-seeing youngest brother.

"What did you see Loz?" He asked. Loz was silent a moment.

"I saw the two of you, Kadaj. You and the girl. You looked sad. So did she. It was daylight." He responded. "You were right here in the forest."

"When will this be?" Yazoo asked, puzzled. Loz tilted his head.

"After this Red Night."

"Are you sure?" Yazoo played, as Loz had done just minutes earlier.

"_Dead _sure."

**XxXxXx**

**A/N: Oh yes I did! Anyway, please review! I like those things! **


	14. Chapter 13: A Confirmation Of Nightmares

**A/N: Sorry for no update until now. I've been unbelievably busy and such, yadda yadda. Okay, on with the fic!**

Thirteen: A Confirmation Of Nightmares

Marlene's eyes flashed open around six o' clock the next morning. She lay still in her bed and her mind raced back to remember all that had happened only three hours ago.

_Had_ it all happened only three hours ago? True it was pretty hazy, wasn't it? What if that Red Night . . . it _had_ all been a dream?

She glanced down at her bed where she was her sweatshirt and pants folded neatly at the edge of her bed. Daddy hadn't folded them. She hadn't folded them. Her sweatshirt was dark with cold water.

A spasm of nausea coursed through her, but faded just as quickly. She shut her eyes, swallowed again. Opened her eyes. She didn't move. She was so tired, but had too many questions to go back to sleep. Her door creaked open and Marlene squinted across the room—scared of who was at her door. When she saw her father, she let her eyes drift shut, feeling consciousness ebb away quickly.

"Marlene? Time to wake up . . ." Came Daddy's soft voice.

"Daddy . . . I don't feel well," she whispered from under the covers, knowing fully well she would not be able to function if she went anywhere.

Barret frowned as he stepped over to his daughter's bed where she huddled under the covers. He gently pulled back the thick white cover to see Marlene's face white with dark rings under her eyes. Obviously she hadn't had the ideal night's slumber.

"Should I call a doctor?" Barret asked concerned. He chewed his lip nervously. Marlene had never been sick before and he intended to leave that record standing as it was.

"No," came Marlene's hasty reply, "I just need . . ." she didn't know how to finish her sentence. What _did _she need? Her eyes drifted shut again. Barret looked at her, worried. What was going _on_?

"Let's get you to Cloud's and Tifa's."

**XxXxXx**

Six hours later the warm golden mid-day sun had risen over Midgar and prompted Marlene's eyes open again, finding herself in her familiar Seventh Heaven bedroom.

She instantly threw off her covers, and changed out of her nightgown. She froze, catching her small bare frame in the mirror. A crescent shaped scar ran down from her pale ribcage to her stomach that hadn't been there before. She touched it, and her head spasmed, remembering the pain the night before. The night before . . . She threw _on _a pair of clothes she found in her closet, and ran down the stairs, three at a time. She was met by the noisy but friendly banter of lunchtime customers and so she slipped under the counter where Tifa was taking and filling orders.

"Hi, sweet are you feeling better?" Tifa greeted with a smile. Marlene nodded; although unsure she _did_ feel better. "You're so pale—you look like you've seen a ghost!"

"Ha ha! A—a ghost!" Marlene laughed aloud, backing up against the counter, her head pounding, a cold sweat clamming up on the back of her neck. And Marlene's head swarmed at the irony. A ghost. Yep. She looked like she'd seen a ghost. If only Tifa had _any_ idea in the world . . . The situation was stayed: last night she had seen three evil men who were supposed to be dead, _after_ she had apparently tried and failed to raise someone back from Lifestream and nearly died herself. What's more, is these three bad men claimed to have been sent by the person she'd been trying to resurrect and then saved her own life. What in the _world_ did it mean?

"Are you _sure_ you're okay?" Tifa asked suspiciously. She wasn't stupid. But she'd noticed the key to the drawer with the Materia in it inside her purse; tucked neatly in the same place she had put it. Besides. Surely Marlene wouldn't have tried anything like that again. She was young and naïve, but not disobedient.

"Yes. I'm fine." Was the only thing Marlene could find in herself to say.

"Well why don't you find something to do? I don't think you should be here at rush hour while you're sick. Are you hungry? You haven't eaten all day!" Tifa said. Marlene's stomach churned at the thought of food.

"No," she shuddered, "I think I'll just go outside and get some fresh air."

"Alright, but only if you wear a coat and are sure you're feeling better," she conditioned. "Oh, and Marlene, no Materia. Clear?" Because then again, you never _did _know.

Marlene shuddered and turned her head away at the mention of magick. Last night had been a hard-learned lesson, but learned it was. Tifa was right. She'd had no idea. No idea at all . . .

"I won't Tifa. I promise." And she wasn't lying. Tifa smoothed Marlene's soft, dark hair.

"I know you won't. But I've got customers to feed so be good, okay?"

"Okay," Marlene whispered, backing up, feeling her heart pounding. _Knowing_, that at any second, sanity would kick in and she'd tell Tifa all about the three men she had seen last night.

But sanity failed.

Escaping prominent notice of Tifa, Marlene backed out of Seventh Heaven, wild eyed, reached the door, and fled for the forest.

**XxXxXx**

Kadaj peered through silvery hair at the map in front of him. He sat cross-legged on the hard and chilled forest ground with Yazoo beside him and Loz standing tentatively nearby. They had moved their rather primitive campsite to the open clearing that morning. They didn't have much—a campfire in the center, three bedrolls, several gray blankets, each of them their large military-style pack, and their weapons, but little more. It was a week of survival they'd been through, and what they had was adequate.

"What about Parlhun?" Yazoo asked, gesturing to another city East of Midgar. Kadaj wrinkled his nose.

"But it's so . . . dirty there."

"But there _are_ plenty of—"

Kadaj whipped his head up as he noticed the presence of:

The breathless, _tiny_ girl he'd rescued the night before.

In front of them.

Cheeks flushed, eyes wide.

Yazoo stiffened while Loz let out a breath. Kadaj kept it cool. He lay the map down and smiled at her.

"You're back."

Gasping for breath, she closed her eyes, cocked a thin eyebrow and reopened her eyes. "Back. It wasn't a dream," she stated softly, "I had thought not . . ." A strange look came over her. "Just like Seph . . . you came back . . . _no_ . . ." The girl's legs buckled under her. Loz's reflexes kicked in before she hit the ground.

"Where should I place her?" Loz asked, shifting the child's weight in her arms.

"On a blanket I suppose. Wrap her in one so she doesn't catch cold," Yazoo suggested.

But no sooner had Loz put her down than her eyes fluttered open and she sat up. About a minute of silence ensued. Finally, Marlene broke it.

"Who are you?" She asked incredulously. Kadaj gestured to himself with both hands.

"I am Kadaj and these are my two older brothers, Yazoo and Loz."

"Last night you mentioned Aeris. What does _she_ have to do with _you_?"

"It's a long story," Kadaj admitted.

The girl stared at him coldly. "I have the time."

Kadaj glanced at each of his brothers who, in turn, both hesitantly nodded. "We . . . we did many bad things before. We lied. Killed. Stole. All for an evil soldier to come back. Jenova . . . was supposed to redeem us all for it though. Our forgiving mother."

"It wasn't entirely our fault though," Loz interjected. "That's what they told us. We didn't know any better."

"Who told you this?" Marlene asked blandly.

"Jenova herself. Sephiroth. Soldier. They all had a part. We were taught to obey. Not to question. No one told us any differently anyway. Lot's of people tried to stop us. Little did they know they probably could've convinced us otherwise. We didn't want anything bad to happen—we just wanted Mother's love."

"Tseng . . . Elena . . . You tried to kill them . . ." Marlene remembered.

"We didn't see the physical life with much value. It was a useful tool that could help Mother's cause, but that was all. In that final battle—when I died—I died of Sephiroth's wounds."

"And Loz and I couldn't fathom life alone. We went together."

"Together we played."

"We stayed in Lifestream for two and a half months. We realized the wrong we'd done. We learned the story. We found out we were just as brainwashed as the children we . . . we kidnapped. But Aeris . . . Aeris was the only person to _ever_ say that there was good in us. She told us our lives weren't fair. That every child should _choose_ what they will be in life. So last week, we were sent back—with the one condition that we are to redeem our past life. So here we are," Kadaj finished. When he looked back at the girl he was utterly horrified to see that during the course of his speech, the child had begun to _cry_!

"Please don't cry! Oh—_why_ are you crying?" He asked sadly, trying to catch her eyes. Marlene's voice was shaky and unstable.

"A-after all that Cloud went through, and all that Vincent did to stop you—and all _I_ did last night to save Cloud _and _Aeris, she makes you alive again. I just-I don't—_why_?" The girl shrieked, her shoulders wracking with nightmares of the past.

Sensing her distress, Kadaj sighed and closed his eyes.

"Very well. I suppose you're right." His double-bladed, curved sword was sheathed at his waist. He drew it calmly. Marlene gasped in fear that she'd angered him. He surprised her however, when the boy held the sword to his own ivory-white neck.

"_Kadaj_!" Loz yelled. Yazoo studied Kadaj's face gravely intent, looking for a joke in his younger brother's eyes. There was none.

"Perhaps she is right brothers. Perhaps the best thing would be for us to just go back to the Lifestream." He paused and looked at Marlene with big sad turquoise eyes.

Marlene, now extremely frightened, shook her head with big wide eyes. _Don't do it. Don't kill yourself. I don't know you_ . . . forgotten voices rang in her head. Her real father's. Daddy's. Hers. She shook her head fervently, nearly wrenching her head from her neck. Kadaj stared into her.

"Certain?"

She nodded twice. Without a word Kadaj re-sheathed his sword.

"I-I'm going to go now," she said, scared, "I have more questions . . . I'll be back, I think. I think . . ." the girl backed up and out of the forest clearing just as fast as she had come.

"Brother," Yazoo said to Kadaj.

"Yes Yazoo?"

"Don't _ever_ do that again. We go together, and I like life."

**XxXxXx**

**So, here we all go. Please read and review! Especially since I'm gonna be loading on the SHM from now on. Peace out everyone!**


	15. Chapter Fourteen: Questions

**Thank all you reviewers out there including IceRi, Tenshi-Gosuperu, crystalfeathers, and Remnant of Misery. You guys seriously make my day. Anyway, pretty soon we're gonna come up to the end of the story and you're gonna have to follow up with 'Karma Chronicles II--Temples of Gold'. Just a thought. Cheerio!**

Fourteen: Questions

"Marlene, are you okay?" Ms. Reid asked her curiously the next afternoon as her student sat, unable to concentrate on her school work.

"Yes Ms. Reid," Marlene didn't glance up as she doodled Cid's airmobile on her completed assignment with a pencil.

"Are you _sure_?" The woman prodded. Marlene looked up at her teacher with eyes that _dared_ her teacher to a stare-down.

"Dead positive," she stated. Her voice sounded dead even to her.

And Ms. Reid walked away, hoping Marlene's older friend—Denzel—hadn't introduced her to any illegal drugs. She was so young . . .

**XxXxXx**

"You okay Marlene?" Tifa asked as they pulled up to Seventh Heaven that same day after her school let out.

"Uh-huh," she answered with a sigh. _Why_ was everyone asking her that?

"Hey sweetheart—I'm sorry for yelling at you last week. I shouldn't have yelled."

"No Tifa—I was wrong. You shouldn't apologize. I'll be in for dinner."

"Oh, okay."

**XxXxXx**

Marlene marched herself back to the forest clearing with a newfound sense of confidence and it felt good. From a fair distance off she was able to see the silver-haired brothers. She peered at Kadaj who was sitting at their campfire, tending it with a long stick. And from what it looked like, Loz was trying to convince the longhaired one, Yazoo, to a thumb-war duel, and it apparently wasn't the first one either.

Boldly she stepped up to them—pleased with herself for catching them off guard.

"If you were killed near the church, why are you _here_?" Marlene challenged. Loz and Yazoo stopped arguing, their faces melting into relief. Kadaj's face broke into a smile.

"I'm glad you came!" He said brightly. Marlene shivered, remembering.

_I'm __**glad**__ you could make it . . ._

"We were hoping you would show up." Loz exclaimed.

"We've got questions to ask you," Yazoo said darkly.

"Lately things haven't been very exciting," Kadaj admitted, "which is why it's a good thing you're here now."

"You were . . . bored?" Marlene asked confused.

"Well a week and a half in frozen weather with two older brothers for company and nothing to do isn't enviable. You really are the most exciting thing that's happened to us yet," Kadaj said dolefully.

"You've been just _sitting_ here in the forest?" Marlene asked doubtfully. "Why don't you go somewhere else? If you don't like it here then go away! Why do you always come back? Why don't you just _leave_ here? No one wants you back!" The girl asked pleaded. The three brothers exchanged a glance.

"I know. Not even ShinRa would want us. And we worked so hard too . . . the thing is, we were told that we should be here." Loz said. Marlene looked at him quizzically.

"Aeris told us to wait for some_one_ or some_thing_ before we took off to do what we came to do." Kadaj said.

"And what or who are you waiting for?" Marlene asked. Kadaj tried to seem casual as he met her gaze off-handedly.

"We're not _entirely _sure . . . but I might have an idea." He said, and his narrow green eyes flashed to her soul. Marlene dropped her gaze and looked about nervously.

"Loz _did _miss the first day though," Yazoo said, "he went back for our bikes and weapons."

"They were still there?" Marlene asked surprised. She then recalled the article Daddy had shown Cloud last week.

"But ever since then we've been just sitting here. Not much to do…" Loz said wistfully.

"Anyway, what was your question?" Yazoo asked attentively. Marlene shook her head.

"It's been answered." She said flippantly. "Anyway, well what do you _do _in your spare time? I'm sure you could think of _something_. Besides kidnapping and killing," she added quickly.

They were silent.

"You must do _something_," Marlene insisted. "Drawing? Sports? Ballet? Playing the piano?" Her gaze met sheepish eyes.

"I enjoy talking . . ." Kadaj said finally, unsure of what she was getting at. Marlene sighed.

"Well it's a start . . ." she muttered. "No _wonder_ you've been waiting around here. You don't have a life!" She exclaimed. Yazoo looked troubled.

"I . . . don't really _know _if I like any of those things. I've never tried them before."

"So none of you even _know_ what to do in the world?" Marlene asked, exasperated. They shook their heads. She decided at that point in time that she didn't hate them anymore. Who _wouldn't_ go crazy-evil if they'd never played softball or dress-up? She couldn't picture the world without them.

"Well _that's _got to change," she decided. "Will you be here tomorrow?" She asked.

"Most likely," Yazoo said bleakly.

"Then I will too," Marlene smiled as did the three brothers. "But I should leave now. Oh, I never told you. My name is Marlene. Marlene Wallace."

They acknowledged it contentedly.

"D-does this mean we're . . . friends now?" Loz asked shyly. Marlene looked at them in wonderment. At these . . . boys in 20-year-old bodies who, in a past life, had tried to kill them. _Friends_. Without anyone knowing? _Secret friends_. Daughter of an AVALANCHE leader and creations of a failed ShinRa project. _Friends_. They weren't so bad. They saved her. They were friends with Aeris. Daddy had said once in casual conversation that any friends of Aeris were friends of his. Even _these_ friends? They trusted her, should she trust _them_? What if they were lying? Why would they be? They didn't look like they were lying. If they really still evil, they wouldn't _have _to lie—they'd just kill her. _Friends_. Should she? She came to one definite conclusion.

"I don't know Loz," she said with a soft smile and headed back toward Seventh Heaven.

**XxXxXx**

**So. Whadja think? Please review! -begs pitifully in pouring rain-**


	16. Chapter Fifteen: Why

**Thanks all you reviewers including IceRi, Simsie92, CrystalFeathers, and all the rest of you! How about some fluffnangst?**

Fifteen: Lessons Of Fun

The next day Loz, Kadaj, and Yazoo watched curiously as Marlene trudged back to the forest, weighted with her school backpack and her knapsack, both stuffed and bulky.

"What's in them?" Kadaj asked curiously, striding over to meet their new acquaintance. Marlene brightened.

"Fun stuff!" Her backpack, upon revelation, held several art supplies she had gathered from her room as well as a few books from Tifa's bookshelf that she wouldn't miss. Along with her materia, her knapsack held a small chess set, a deck of cards, and a football she found in Daddy's garage.

"So what do we _do _with them?" Yazoo asked doubtfully.

"Isn't it obvious brother?" Loz asked. "We play with them."

"That's right," Marlene said, pleased. Yazoo took out the cards.

"But how do we play with _these_?" He asked distastefully, flipping through jacks and aces.

"You play War! Or Go-Fish, or Solitaire, or Poker."

"War is _not_ a game." Kadaj said, trying to make his face as serious and grave as possible. It didn't work very well.

Marlene giggled at his antics. "Of course it is! I'll teach you!" She sat down on the hard earth and hesitantly, Loz, Kadaj, and Yazoo followed.

"First thing you need to know is higher numbers and symbols beat lower numbers and symbols—you _do_ know how to count—right?" Three silver heads nodded innocently.

"Good."

**XxXxXx**

The next two hours were a crash course on fun for the three brothers. Marlene couldn't help but relate to her first grade teacher as she patiently taught them.

Loz was now hurling the football through the atmosphere and catching it just as quickly. Yazoo was playing cards (Marlene would never again see something as odd as an ex-Soldier get frustrated because he was losing to himself at Poker) and Kadaj's slim hands skittered nervously across a blank piece of paper with a pencil, sketching an abstract figure still in the early stages of development.

"What are you drawing?" Marlene asked, sitting down beside him. He hesitated, but answered.

"The oracle."

Marlene's eyes widened.

"You saw that?" She asked quietly. The man nodded. She lowered her gaze and shivered involuntarily.

"I-I'm sorry we've been trouble for you," Kadaj apologized.

"It's okay. Anyway, I never thanked you for saving my life." Kadaj shook his head vehemently.

"You don't have to. Had I not done anything it would've been murderer. What else could I have done?" He looked pensively into her eyes.

"Well, thank you anyway," she said finally, and they both smiled a little at each other and sat silently, Kadaj continuing his sketch for the remainder of the time, and Marlene watching.

**XxXxXx**

"You seem rather chipper today Marlene," Tifa commented as she drove Marlene to school.

"Really?" Marlene giggled, "I didn't notice."

"I know," She replied lightly, stifling her own giggles. It had been a long time since she'd seen Marlene so bouncy. "Talk to you later sweetie."

"Bye Tifa!"

**XxXxXx**

That morning Marlene worked diligently in school, figuring it was the only way to not allow herself to get worked up over her tentative new friends. She was excited at her secret, but determined not to let anyone else catch on.

Then, during a quiet moment in her class, her gaze drifted out the window.

She caught a flash of silver.

Her stomach spun. Her eyes widened and her heart pounded.

_What were they __**doing **__here?_

"Ms. Reid, may I use the restroom?" She asked feverishly. She had to get them out of here before anyone saw them.

"Take the pass," her teacher reminded as Marlene shoved a velvet-red coat on over her forest green turtle neck and bolted out the door.

Once in the hall, she dashed for the exit and pushed the door open, a wave of chilled air blowing her hair back. Frantically, she glanced around, trying to remember where she had seen them. _Where __**were**__ they?_ Rounding a brick corner, she bit back a shriek as she spun headlong into an iron Loz who was wandering aimlessly around looking very lost.

"Oh! Sorry—wait—_there_ you are!" He exclaimed happily. Marlene was slightly less joyous.

"What are you _doing_?" She exclaimed, glancing around furtively. "Are Yazoo and Kadaj here too?" She was afraid of the answer. Loz nodded eagerly, took her hand, and led her around to a big recycling dumpster within the privacy of a black ribbed fence. Yazoo and Kadaj seemed to be involved in a bit of a dispute.

"What are you _doing _here?" She hissed again in a whisper. They seemed oblivious to her discomfort.

"Kadaj saws that pawns can only move forward, but I seem to remember you saying that they can only capture pieces by moving diagonally. Doesn't that include backward too?" Yazoo asked. Marlene was baffled.

"_What_?"

"In _chess_," Kadaj explained patiently. She shook her head, confused.

"You came all the way out here to ask me how to play _chess_?" They nodded. "And what about _you_?" She asked, gesturing to Loz, who shrugged.

"I play winner."

Marlene groaned.

"You have to stay hidden! What if someone had seen you? I'd get in big trouble you know!" She huffed.

"No one saw me," Loz said glumly. "I ran." Marlene was even more confused.

"You mean you still have your powers?" She asked. Kadaj tilted his head.

"Yes . . ." Kadaj said, not understanding her surprise. Marlene tried to process the new information.

"I thought you had them taken away. Replaced, or, something." Kadaj shook his head.

"Aeris . . . gave us new powers, left us our old ones. She wanted to prove we could still have been good even with powers that could be used for evil. That's how I healed you, you know." He hoisted himself up onto a closed dumpster to be with his brothers. She leaned against the gate, prepared to stay awhile. After all, this was quite a development.

"So you're saying that you have healing powers? What are yours, Yazoo and Loz?" She asked. Yazoo was quiet a moment.

"It's very strange," he warned her. Her manner remained mild.

"I live with Cloud Strife," she reminded him. He smiled.

"Alright then. Well, Aeris gave me the ability to see the dreams of others. They sometimes tell me things."

Marlene was taken aback and she looked at him strangely, "you see into others dreams. Isn't that strange?" She asked him, trying to comprehend how it worked. Yazoo looked over at Kadaj and cocked an eyebrow.

"You've got _that_ right," he muttered, blushing.

"What about you, Loz?" She asked innocently.

But his eyes turned away from hers and they gleamed a dark gold. She was quiet, and understood that she couldn't understand. Not yet. So she turned her attention away back to Kadaj and Yazoo.

"_Why_ did Aeris give you those particular powers?" She asked.

"Even _we_ don't know yet," Yazoo admitted wearily. "Maybe one day _you_ could tell us." Kadaj nodded.

"Well it couldn't be _too_ abstract," Marlene remarked, "but I'll think about it." She slowly glanced back at her school building and she knew what she had to do. "I should go. My teacher's waiting for me and I'll get in trouble if I stay out much longer." She turned for the gate. "Can you get back safely without being seen?" She asked cautiously.

"We'll be fine," Kadaj said, dismissing their situation. "See you back in the clearing?"

Marlene nodded. "Later. I have to go. Bye Yazoo and Loz! Bye Kadaj!"

"Wait!" Yazoo caught her by the arm. "What about our chess game?"

"Oh yeah! Pawns can only capture pieces by moving diagonal and then forward!" She replied and was gone, leaving the silver-haired brothers to themselves. Kadaj snickered at Yazoo.

"I told you so."

Yazoo narrowed his eyes at his older brother and began to say something witty in return when the youngest brother spoke, eyes far away.

"I know."

Kadaj put an arm around Loz.

"What do you know?" He asked. As much as Loz seemed to be disturbed, for once he was not crying. Kadaj recognized this to be deeper than they suspected.

"I know _why_."

**XxXxXx**

**A/N: So sorry for updating so late in the day. Anyway, I hope you've enjoyed this chapter. Please review and make my week! Thanks you guys!**


	17. Chapter Sixteen: Mirrors

**Thank you all for the hits and reviews! Chapter Sixteen and here we go.**

Sixteen: Memories In Mirrors

The rest of the week passed by smoothly. Once the weekend rolled around, Marlene reluctantly left her friends to themselves as she spent Saturday and Sunday with Daddy during his first business trip. In the spare time they had however, it was spent catching up with each other.

It was fun, and she didn't regret the time spent. Barret realized how caught up he had gotten with his own life and the weekend was a perfect time to make it up. Another thing, Marlene had some nice blackmail material against her Daddy. Apparently the big and tough Barret Wallace couldn't stomach roller coasters at the local _carnival_!

But when Monday afternoon arrived, Marlene found herself curiously drawn once more to Kadaj, Loz, and Yazoo. As she was about to win another round of checkers against the spiky-haired brother, she caught Kadaj's eyes gazing over her pale neck. She caught his eye, smiled confusedly, and Kadaj explained himself.

"Your necklace . . ." he trailed off before hastily adding, "it's very pretty." She glanced down at the silver pendant given to her by her father.

"Thank you," she said fingering it gently. "My father gave it to me."

A flicker of unrest skittered across Kadaj's face for a brief second.

"Who is your father?" He asked casually.

"Barret. Barret Wallace. You've seen him. I went away with him for the weekend," she answered, distracted, and turned back to the game.

"Is he the one with the gun prosthetic?" Loz asked. Marlene looked up carefully.

"Yes . . ."

"Oh. I remember him." Loz left it at that.

"Why did he give you the necklace?" Kadaj asked. Marlene was startled.

"To show that he loves me, I suppose." Kadaj, inspired by the understanding, dug into the pocket of his black leather pants and pulled out the gleaming amulet given to him by Aeris.

"Like this?" He asked, eager for her approval.

"Yes . . ." she said, reaching over to touch fleetingly, the smooth remnant of her friend.

"Loz—come here a moment!" Yazoo called from a distance. Loz groaned.

"I give up." He said to Marlene, throwing down his black checker token. "You win. I'm going with Yazoo." He said grumpily, stomping away and leaving Kadaj with a rueful smile. They sat quietly for a moment or so.

"When," Marlene hesitated, "when you were in Lifestream. Did Aeris ever mention me?" She ended in a whisper. Kadaj leaned back against a tree and closed his eyes. All was still.

"I remember watching myself—when I was alive. Every aspect of my quest was replayed just for me. I saw how I acted. I saw . . ." his voice trailed off. "I remember you, vaguely. I remember disappointment. She was your friend, and she was disappointed we took you." He finished.

"Oh. I miss her . . ."

"So do I," he agreed, "but then—" he stopped himself and shook his head. "Never mind."

"What?" Marlene pressed innocently. Kadaj looked at the ground.

"When you're here, I don't miss her as much . . ." he confessed. She chuckled.

"Me? Why _me_?"

Kadaj shrugged off handedly.

"I don't know. I can't put define it. At least not completely. You do look like her though. A little. A lot."

And time seemed to slow for Kadaj as he watched the girl with thick auburn braid and wide hazel eyes, as her lips poised for a lovely smile.

"No one's ever told me that before," Marlene said shyly. Kadaj brushed silver feathers out of his green eyes.

"It's true," he said. Her face broke into a brilliantly sweet smile. Kadaj's heart skipped pleasantly.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome." And he meant it.

**XxXxXx**

"Whatcha doin' Marlene?" Asked Cloud as he passed Tifa's room to see the girl sitting cross-legged on Tifa's plush red couch staring absently into the floor-length mirror, which she in fact had been doing for the last half hour. Fingering her necklace. Lost in thought and memory of a long lost friend. Maybe not so lost after all.

"Do I look like her?" Came a whisper.

"What? Look like who?"

"Do I look like her? Like Aeris?" She asked again. Cloud's eyes widened. He too stared intently at her reflection. And slowly, he wasn't looking at seven-year-old Marlene anymore. He smiled a shadowed smile, that he seemed to be wearing lately.

"You . . . you sort of _do_ . . ." he said quietly, with a tilt of his head. And he cleared his throat and walked away.

**XxXxXx**

**A/N: Please review! We're almost done with this, by the way. Only two more chapters until part two O.**


	18. Chapter Seventeen: Nothing Good

**Heyzya people! Omg, this is the second-to-last chapter! Took some time eh? Well, please enjoy! Big thanks to IceRi for all the tips on this fic, and a big thanks to the positive comments and feedback!**

Seventeen: No More Good

Loz waved eagerly at Marlene's approaching form three days later. He met her half way to the clearing, growing expectant for her each day. The air was crisp and chill. Stone and silver.

"Hello," she shivered with a smile, stamping her feet in the cold.

"Good afternoon Marlene," Yazoo replied formally.

"Missed you today," Loz remarked, "oh—did I tell you about the fight that Yazoo and I got into the other day?"

"I'm sure she doesn't want to hear about _that_," Yazoo said, rolling his eyes and nudging his brother in the ribs with his elbow.

"It's a good story!" Loz protested. As they continued to bicker, Marlene looked around the forest clearing, puzzled. She had not yet seen any sign of Yazoo and Loz's youngest brother.

"Where's Kadaj?" She interrupted. The brothers stopped to slowly glance at each other.

"He's . . . _not here_ . . ." Yazoo responded slowly. Marlene stiffened. Well then _where was he_? "Don't worry—he's still in the forest," he assured her, and she sighed in relief. At least he hadn't run off.

"Is he okay?" Marlene asked. She'd known them long enough to know that this wasn't normal. "What's wrong?" She persisted.

"Maybe he'll tell _you_," Loz muttered. "He's out that way." He gestured to a barely-visible trail leading northward a distance. Troubled and not liking the tone of Loz or Yazoo's voice, she stepped carefully out north, brown leaves crunching under her shoes.

**XxXxXx**

Within ten minutes she could no longer hear Loz or Yazoo's voice. And as she ventured farther out, she was surprised she hadn't spotted this trail before.

Before long she heard heavy breathing—not far from her current position. Just a little further . . . _what_? She brought her hand to her mouth in horror as she realized that the distraught figure slumped against a tree was Kadaj.

A breath of wonder escaped her lips as she realized that he was indeed very close to crying.

As the silver-haired boy noticed her, he shut his eyes tightly and turned to the refuge of the tree.

"Kadaj . . . what's _wrong_?" She asked anxiously. He didn't answer, only moaned a little. Marlene felt sick. Something was very, very _wrong_. She placed a hand on his shoulder blade that was turned to her, and tried with that touch, to make all the sadness go away. It didn't. It seemed, in fact, to make it worse.

"Won't you tell me what's wrong?" She pleaded, crouching down to his level next to him. "Is it your brothers?" She asked. At that point the boy turned his face back to hers.

"It's not my brothers. It's—it's _me._" He said, and a solitary tear marbled its way down his pale cheek.

"What have you done?" She murmured, sitting down, not breaking precious eye contact.

"It's what I haven't—" he said, cutting himself off.

"_What_?" Marlene, frightened at the boy's intensity, leaned in.

"It was two weeks ago that we met. I barely _know_ you." He said, shaking his head. Marlene's desperate face softened. She understood.

"But you're _hurting_," she said gently. "You don't have to tell me." She said. And he looked up at her. With painfully. Honest. Eyes.

Those eyes . . . there was something in those eyes . . . they were haunted and beautiful and wretched. Something bad clung to them and would not let go.

"Aeris brought me back because she saw good in me during Reunion. I know what she saw and I _can't_ find—the good in Reunion. In _me_, during Reunion. I see the helplessness and Jenova. That's all. Helplessness. Stupid, stupid, STUPID!" He slammed a bare fist onto the tree trunk next to him, making Marlene jump. He let out a cry as he found blood on his hands. His cry dwindled to a groan and he sank once again into the tree, his hand draped over his right knee.

"There's blood on my hands," he said in realization.

"Does it hurt?" She asked shakily. And he nodded.

"Yes, but it isn't mine."

Hesitantly, Marlene took a finger and wiped away the few and tiny droplets of blood on his hand. She searched her mind for any possible way she could help him. She put herself in his place. What would she want right _now_ if she was Kadaj? And a word came to her.

Redemption.

And a friend.

A real life, best friend that wasn't one of his brothers. And she was the only one in the world.

Slowly, she crawled forward and wrapped her arms around his slim frame and held on tightly. She felt the cold and smooth exterior of the black leather he wore crumble away to reveal a broken boy. She didn't know what he couldn't forget—other than mindlessly fighting for Jenova and fighting against AVALANCHE and ShinRa, which he'd been forgiven of. She didn't know what haunted him now.

Unbeknownst to her, Kadaj opened his eyes and thoughts flew. He didn't deserve this. He was a killer, didn't she know? And then, yes . . . she _did _know. And she didn't care. She knew, and she embraced him anyway.

Overwhelmed, Kadaj slowly lifted his own hands and placed them between her shoulder blades. Awkwardly enough, at first. It was his very first hug in the world. But the more he realized she was the only person on Earth that knew at that moment what he was going through, he pulled tighter, afraid to let her go. Afraid she might change her mind. Afraid she'd find out about what he didn't do. What he couldn't do before he gained his new powers.

But for now, everything was okay. She was perfectly content with just being there for him when he needed it. After all, Kadaj had been there for _her_ when _she_ needed him.

When at last they parted, Marlene smiled that same peaceful smile he'd seen on Aeris's face so many times, and he knew that all along it was Marlene that they were told to wait for.

He smiled too, the wound temporarily bandaged, and she held out her hand.

"Do you want to go home now?" She asked him. He nodded and took her hand, and they walked back to their campsite, hand in hand. Not about to try to explain to Loz and Yazoo what had happened on that trail. Because in fact, the two of them hardly knew what had happened there themselves.

**XxXxXx**

"Hey Marlie, did I fill you in?" Barret asked his daughter that Thursday evening at dinner, in their own house. Marlene shook her head.

"What Daddy?" Barret smiled, he loved hearing that.

"On Monday, Vincent's coming to stay with us." Barret reported. However

"Really? How long is he staying?" She asked. Barret shrugged as he cleared his plate.

"A few days—he's just passing through. He'll sleep in the guest room okay? There shouldn't be any major conflicts with my schedule because of this. You okay? You look a little pale," Barret noticed. Marlene snapped to attention.

"Yeah! I'm fine. Vincent's sleeping in the guest room," she repeated.

"Good girl," Barret smiled. And his little girl was fine again.

**XxXxXx**

**A/N: Hopefully by this point I've left you with some questions: What has Kadaj done that's so terrible? Why did they get those particular powers that they did? How long can Kadaj, Loz, and Yazoo go unnoticed by the outside world? Why is Vincent visiting? These answers and more to come!**

**Please review!**


	19. Chapter Eighteen: Promise

**Okay, last chapter. Here goes. There might be an Author's note after this chapter, but I don't know. Please enjoy and review!**

Eighteen: A Promise

A life of ignorance continued on its merry pace. Marlene grew used to hearing Denzel boasting about his new life with Reeve; and as fond as she was of her friend, she grew steadily resentful toward his guardian. Grade one was still a downhill bore. Seventh Heaven retained its fair amount of regular customers. And as much as Cloud tried to hide it—his restlessness festered, Marlene knew. No one else seemed to. Daddy and Tifa were caught up with work.

But every afternoon a brilliant little girl would meet three silver-haired brothers in a hauntingly chilled forest reserved only for them. And she was quite content that way.

In fact, the very day after Marlene and her father's little talk; she walked back out to Seventh Heaven's back forest. She played with Loz, taught Yazoo, and spoke with Kadaj. The ground grew harder; the air grew colder, the sun and blue sky dimmed with each passing day. There was no hiding it now—fall was over and Midgar fell into the dawn of winter.

**XxXxXx**

"Yazoo cheated!" Loz whined, turning to Marlene who had engaged in a conversation with the youngest brother.

"No I didn't!" Yazoo cried, insulted. "That's a lie!"

"You've _had_ to! How else could you win seven times in a row?!"

"And how could I have _possibly_ cheated at 'rock-paper-scissors'?"

"_You're _the master-fiend around here—why don't _you_ tell _me_!"

"Maybe the game has run its course," Marlene interrupted. "There's always the football," she suggested. Yazoo cocked an eyebrow.

"This is true," he said to Loz, who nodded. The two older brothers glanced at each other suspiciously before taking off for the football.

"LOZ! THIS ISN'T KEEP-AWAY!" They heard Yazoo holler a few minutes later. Kadaj chuckled and shivered.

"It's so cold," he muttered, breathing on his gloved hands and glancing around, trying to spot out where the icy air was coming from.

"Chilly," Marlene nodded, and then sighed. "Will it _ever_ snow?"

Kadaj shrugged. "It would seem cold enough to."

Marlene stared out into the open. "I love snow," she murmured wistfully.

"I've never seen it," Kadaj admitted. Marlene turned to him, aghast.

"You've never seen snow?" She asked, not sure whether to believe him or not. She shook her head, wondering what exactly he _had_ seen in his short life. Obviously not much.

"Winter seemed to avoid me during Reunion . . . I am quite curious though. So. When it _does_ snow, you'll watch it with me, right?" Marlene was delighted.

"Of course I will!" Her face lit up and Kadaj couldn't keep the grin off his face. He needed to tell her something.

"Thank you, Marlene."

"For the snow?" She glanced at him quizzically.

"Yes for the snow, but, well thank you for being my friend." He said with a tilt of the head.

She smiled one more time and took his gloved hand in hers, gazing into those beautiful liquid-green eyes, not needing to say anything more. Because strangely enough, she'd been about to say the same. Exact. Thing . . .

**XxXxXx**

_Where has all the magic gone  
Lost behind or lost along  
A victim of the pulse of our society?  
Don't you miss the ancient times,  
The riddles and the subtle signs  
A relative perspective on reality_

_I get stronger in the splendor  
Of a lucid moon  
Only creatures of the night_

_All my demons cast a spell  
The souls of dusk rising from the ashes  
So the book of shadows tell  
The weak will always obey the master_

_Heading for the dragons lair  
Another time and a different sphere  
I leave the nothingness behind  
And when the sense of logic yields  
I'll escape the outer shields  
Into the universal mind_

_I get stronger in the splendor  
Of a lucid moon  
Only creatures of the night  
Can heal my wounds . . ._

**XxXxXx**

**A/N: And there it is. The first. The lead-up. And I feel good about it. But what I think doesn't matter when it comes to improvement. If you would like to see the follow-ups then please let it be known. **


	20. Author's Note

**Author's Note:**

**I know this may be a bit misleading because the last chapter IS indeed posted, this is simply my own comment before I post the second story. Thanks for hanging in there everyone.**

**XxXxXx**

So I finished it. I didn't think I could, but I did.

I know I probably mentioned this in the beginning, but this is the longest story I ever finished and it's very special to me.

I want to thank each and every reader and reviewer for sticking through with this story through the long parts and the excitement—your hits and reviews make my day. And now that this prequel story is finished, the next ones are going to be _much_ more exciting.

So is this _really_ the end?

Of course not.

It never is.

If you're watching, I'll probably post the preface and first chapter of the second one next week if anyone's interested.

I want to stress again that I owe all inspiration for this story to the band 'Kamelot' and its album 'Karma'. If it weren't for Roy Khan, Thomas Youngblood, and the other amazing musicians in that band, this story would not exist.

The stories coming up are going to be a doozy by the way, even if it doesn't look like it right now, trust me, things get going.

So just for fun, if you want to, leave a comment telling me what you think is going to happen in the future to the characters (IE—MARLENE IS GONNA PROPOSE TO LOZ AND CLOUD'S GONNA GET JEALOUS AND BEAT HIM UP!). Maybe I'll even reply with a spoiler or two (not big ones mind you. I can't lose my _whole_ audience)!

So thanks you guys for being such awesome readers! Hope to hear from you in the future!

Long live Kamelot. Long live Kadaj.

—Ringbearingreasergal.

**XxXxXx**


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